A new study shows that a financial incentive can dramatically increase the number of emergency department physicians trained to prescribe a potentially life-saving medication that prevents patients from fatal opioid overdose.
Led by researchers in Emergency Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn Medicine), the study showed that, at its start, just 6 percent of eligible physicians across three different emergency departments (EDs) had the proper training to prescribe the medication buprenorphine. But by offering reimbursement for training and a $750 incentive, 89 percent of physicians in those EDs were fully trained six weeks later. The study was published this month in Annals of Emergency Medicine.
Source: Penn Medicine
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-05/uops-fib050520.php