This study examines interstate variations and trends in the use of opioids and prescribing patterns of pain medications across 25 states. The study compares the amount of opioids prescribed per claim over two roughly 24-month periods of time ending March 2012 and March 2014.
 
The information should be useful for (1) state officials who wonder if the use of opioids is unusual in their state, (2) payors and managed care companies looking to set priorities for targeting opioid management programs, (3) injured workers and worker advocates looking to understand the extent of the problem in their state, and (4) providers who wonder what the prescribing norms in their state may be and if the state norms are unusual.

The 25 states in the study are Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

Interstate Variations in Use of Opioids, 3rd Edition. Vennela Thumula, Dongchun Wang, and Te-Chun Liu. June 2016. WC-16-22.

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