Effect of a Veterans Health Administration mandate to case review patients with opioid prescriptions on mortality among patients with opioid use disorder: a secondary analysis of the STORM randomized control trial

Abstract

Aims: The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) implemented the Stratification Tool for Opioid Risk Mitigation (STORM) to reduce the risk of serious adverse events (SAE) among patients with opioid analgesic prescriptions. VHA facilities were mandated to case review patients identified as high risk by STORM. The aim of this study was to measure the effect of this mandate on all-cause mortality and SAEs among VHA patients newly diagnosed with opioid use disorder (OUD).

Design: Secondary analysis of a stepped-wedged cluster randomized controlled trial conducted at all 140 VHA facilities, with facility as the unit of randomization, from 2018 to 2020.

Setting and participants: United States VHA facilities were randomized to case review the top 1 or 5% of high-risk patients prescribed opioid analgesics identified by STORM. A total of 28 251 patients were diagnosed with OUD during the trial and were considered control or treatment depending on the status of the facility where they received their OUD diagnosis. Post-hoc analyses among patients who had at least one opioid analgesic prescription in the 90 days prior to diagnosis were conducted and were then stratified by receipt of a prescription in the 90 days following diagnosis to assess the sensitivity of results to opioid discontinuation.

Measurements: All-cause mortality and opioid-related, drug-related, suicide-related and other SAEs within 90 days of OUD diagnosis.

Findings: Mandated case review increased the odds of 90-day mortality [odds ratio (OR) = 1.74, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.06, 2.87], but did not significantly change the odds of SAEs. Among patients who received an opioid prescription prior to but not after OUD diagnosis, the odds of all-cause mortality within 90 days was 5.87 (95% CI = 1.85, 18.58) relative to control patients.

Conclusions: Veterans Health Administration patients newly diagnosed with opioid use disorder experienced increased all-cause mortality following expansion of a case review mandate for high-risk patients prescribed opioids.

Keywords: Mortality; opioid; opioid discontinuation; opioid use disorder; randomized control trial; veterans.