Canadian Opioid Supply Program Shows Decreased Rates of ED Visits, Hospitalizations and Costs

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A time-series analysis of a safer opioid supply program in Ontario, Canada, showed decreased rates of ED visits, hospitalizations and health care costs, researchers reported in Canadian Medical Association Journal.

Tara Gomes, PhD, MHSc, an epidemiologist and principal investigator at the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network in Canada, and her colleagues sought to assess the impact of a Canadian opioid supply program more sure, that started in 2016.

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The program allows people at high risk of overdose to be prescribed pharmaceutical opioids as an alternative to the supply of fentanyl-adulterated drugs, as well as comprehensive health and social support.

Gomes and colleagues conducted a time-series analysis of residents who received a diagnosis of opioid use disorder and entered the program between January 2016 and March 2019. They also had a comparison group of ‘individuals who were matched for demographic and clinical characteristics, but who were not part of it. of the program.

The researchers reported reduced rates of ED visits (–14 visits per 100 people; 95% CI, –26 to –2), hospitalizations (–5 per 100 people; 95% CI, –9 to –2 ) and health care costs ($ -922 per person; 95% CI, -$1,577 to -$268) after initial program entry.

In the year following program entry, the rate of emergency department visits (RR, 0.69; 95% CI, 0.53-0.9), hospitalizations (RR, 0.46; CI 95%, 0.29–0.74) and health care costs ($15,635 vs. $7,310 per person-year) decreased significantly among program participants compared with the previous year.

“These positive impacts were seen very quickly after entering the program,” Gomes said in a journal press release. “We did not see similar changes in a matched group of people with opioid use disorder not enrolled in the program, suggesting that these changes observed in safer supply clients are due to program participation and not they were influenced by external factors”.

Gomes and colleagues wrote that their findings “provide preliminary evidence that [safer opioid supply] Programs can play an important role in expanding the treatment and harm reduction options available to people who use drugs at high risk of drug poisoning.”

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