Chronic opioid therapy risk reduction initiative: impact on urine drug testing rates and results.

Background: In response to epidemic levels of prescription opioid overdose, abuse, and diversion, routine urine drug tests (UDTs) are recommended for patients receiving chronic opioid therapy (COT) for chronic pain. However, UDT ordering for COT patients is inconsistent in primary care, and little is known about how to increase UDT ordering or the impact of increased testing on rates of aberrant results.

Objective: To compare rates and results of UDTs for COT patients before versus after implementation of an opioid risk reduction initiative in a large healthcare system.