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Hassle Costs versus Information: How Do Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs Reduce Opioid Prescribing?
Hassle Costs versus Information: How Do Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs Reduce Opioid Prescribing?
Abby Alpert
Sarah Dykstra
Mireille Jacobson
American Economic Journal: Economic Policy (Forthcoming)
Abstract
We study hassle costs versus information provision in explaining how prescription drug
monitoring programs (PDMPs) decrease opioid prescribing. PDMPs aim to reduce opioid
prescribing through information provision but may also unintentionally affect prescribing through
the hassle of required record checks. We analyze Kentucky’s landmark PDMP to disentangle these
two mechanisms. Hassle costs reduce opioid prescribing across the board, including to opioidnaïve
patients; however, physicians continue to prescribe opioids to patients who would benefit
the most. Although information also affects prescribing, hassle costs explain the majority of the
decline. Introducing a cost to prescribing high-risk medications improves the targeting of
treatment.
