Do Injured Workers Receive Opioid Prescriptions Outside the Workers' Compensation System?: The Case of Private Group Health Insurances.

OBJECTIVES We explored the impact of workplace injury on receiving opioid prescriptions from employer-sponsored private group health insurances (GHI) and how long injured workers receive opioid prescriptions after injury. METHODS We used the difference-in-differences method and MarketScan® databases for the years 2013 to 2015. RESULTS Estimated odds for injured workers relative to non-injured workers to receive opioid prescriptions from the GHI within 60 and 180 days from the index date of injury were 4.9 and 1.5, respectively. In addition, the number of opioid prescriptions received within 60 days of injury was 2.5 times higher. CONCLUSION Workplace injury could be a risk factor for both short and long-term prescription opioid use. Studies that use only workers' compensation medical claim data likely underestimate the magnitude of the impact of workplace injuries on opioid prescriptions.