Opioid manufacturer payments to hospitalists and hospitalists' prescribing of opioids on discharge

Marketing payments from opioid manufacturers to outpatient physicians are associated with opioid prescribing. We examined the association between opioid-related payments to hospitalists and opioid prescribing at discharge from 2015 to 2023. We linked Medicare Part B Physicians & Other Practitioners public use files, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Open Payments data, and Medicare Part D Prescribers Public Use Files to identify hospitalists' opioid-related payments and opioid prescribing. Of 67,408 hospitalists, 360 (0.53%) received payments, which declined from 581 in 2015 to 65 in 2023. Each payment was associated with a 0.94 percentage-point increase (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.60 to 1.28) in the proportion of outpatient prescription claims for opioids, equivalent to 112 additional opioid claims (95% CI, 70.78 to 154.73). Total payment value was not associated with opioid claims. Opioid-related payments to hospitalists are uncommon and declining, but even minimal exposure is associated with greater opioid prescribing.