MedTrace Logo

The Effect of Informative Letters on the Prescription and Receipt of Schedule II Controlled Substances

NCT02345434 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 1525

Last updated 2021-11-08

Study results available
· View outcomes & findings →

Summary

Fraud and waste is estimated to cost the American health care system nearly $200 billion each year, and the public Medicare and Medicaid programs about $60 billion each year. This study will evaluate a new method for fighting fraud: mailing informative letters to outlier providers to notify them of their aberrant behavior. These letters are targeted at high prescribers of schedule II controlled substances in Medicare Part D. The investigators will look at the effects of these letters on the behavior of providers and their patients. These effects are of substantial policy interest as they suggest how to best design anti-fraud policies. They are also of academic interest, shedding light on the behavior of physicians and their patients.

Conditions

  • Economics
  • Fraud
  • Delivery of Health Care
  • Health Expenditures
  • Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (U.S.)

Interventions

OTHER

Informative letter

The intervention is a letter that describes the Schedule II prescribing activity of the individual in comparison to a peer group of similar prescribers. It highlights the fact that the prescriber's activity is highly unlike her peers.

Sponsors & Collaborators

Principal Investigators

  • Amy Finkelstein, PhD · Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
Masking
NONE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2014-08-31
Primary Completion
2015-08-31
Completion
2015-08-31

More Related Trials

Entities

Companies

Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT02345434 on ClinicalTrials.gov