Costs of care for persons with opioid dependence in commercial integrated health systems

Frances L. Lynch, Dennis McCarty, Jennifer Mertens, Nancy A. Perrin, Carla A. Green, Sujaya Parthasarathy, John F. Dickerson, Bradley M. Anderson, David Pating

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

30 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background: When used in general medical practices, buprenorphine is an effective treatment for opioid dependence, yet little is known about how use of buprenorphine affects the utilization and cost of health care in commercial health systems. Methods: The objective of this retrospective cohort study was to examine how buprenorphine affects patterns of medical care, addiction medicine services, and costs from the health system perspective. Individuals with two or more opioid-dependence diagnoses per year, in two large health systems (System A: n = 1836; System B: n = 4204) over the time span 2007-2008 were included. Propensity scores were used to help adjust for group differences. Results: Patients receiving buprenorphine plus addiction counseling had significantly lower total health care costs than patients with little or no addiction treatment (mean health care costs with buprenorphine treatment = $13,578; vs. mean health care costs with no addiction treatment = $31,055; p <.0001), while those receiving buprenorphine plus addiction counseling and those with addiction counseling only did not differ significantly in total health care costs (mean costs with counseling only: $17,017; p =.5897). In comparison to patients receiving buprenorphine plus counseling, those with little or no addiction treatment had significantly greater use of primary care (p <.001), other medical visits (p =.001), and emergency services (p =.020). Patients with counseling only (compared to patients with buprenorphine plus counseling) used less inpatient detoxification (p <.001), and had significantly more PC visits (p =.001), other medical visits (p =.005), and mental health visits (p =.002). Conclusions: Buprenorphine is a viable alternative to other treatment approaches for opioid dependence in commercial integrated health systems, with total costs of health care similar to abstinence-based counseling. Patients with buprenorphine plus counseling had reduced use of general medical services compared to the alternatives.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number16
JournalAddiction Science and Clinical Practice
Volume9
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 27 2014

Keywords

  • Commercial health insurance
  • Cost analysis
  • Health care utilization
  • Parity
  • Substance abuse

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Medicine

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Costs of care for persons with opioid dependence in commercial integrated health systems'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this