Patients in Pain May Have Reduced PCP Access

Newswise — Finding a new doctor for health checkups and general care can pose a challenge to anyone. But for people who take prescription opioid pills for their chronic pain, it might be far harder, according to a new study.

In fact, 40% of 194 primary care clinics contacted for the study said they wouldn’t accept a new patient who takes Percocet daily for pain from a past injury, no matter what kind of health insurance they had.

Another 17% of the clinics said they would want more information before deciding whether to take the patient; two-thirds of these said they would want the patient to come for a preliminary appointment before making a decision. All the clinics in the study were accepting new patients at the time.

The findings, published in JAMA Network Open by a team from the University of Michigan, suggest that more patients who take opioids for chronic pain face could health care access problems than previous studies have suggested.

However, the team did find that larger clinics and those that offer safety-net coverage were three times more likely than others to accept patients who currently take opioids for chronic pain.

More than just pain care

For such patients, getting access to primary care goes beyond checkups, preventive care and management of medical conditions, says lead researcher Pooja Lagisetty, M.D., M.Sc.

Having a regular provider could enable them to receive other pain-relieving treatments, and if indicated, provide guidance in safely and gradually tapering their use of opioids.

Primary care providers can also equip patients who take opioids, or their loved ones, with a “rescue” drug to use in case of an opioid overdose, screen patients for signs of opioid use disorders, and treat such disorders if the patient is among the minority of people on long-term prescription opioid treatment who develop an addiction to the drugs.

Without access to such care, the researchers note, patients may turn to other means of obtaining opioids, outside of a prescription from a regular provider. It also may lead to worsened health outcomes for their other medical issues like their diabetes or...

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