Doctors who work in emergency rooms are generally supportive of prescription drug monitoring programs, while those in other specialties appear more concerned regulatory oversight will interfere with the doctor–patient relationship and do little to curb the opioid epidemic, according to a study led by a researcher at Georgia State University.

Understanding how the attitudes of physicians can vary by specialty, and by their age and status, can be important for public health professionals seeking solutions for this national crisis, according to the study led by Dr. Eric Wright, a professor of sociology and public health.

The researchers surveyed physicians and other health care providers in Indiana and examined their attitudes toward the Indiana Scheduled Prescription Electronic Collection and Tracking (INSPECT) program. The study analyzed the responses supplied by the 2,444 licensed physicians who completed the survey.

The study found “significant variation” in attitudes among physicians.

“Doctors who have higher levels of professional status, who are older, and who prescribe more opioids are more likely to have concerns about this form of expanded government intervention in the practice of medicine,” researchers said.

Previous studies have found that physicians who specialize in geriatrics are more concerned with pain management for their patients than concerns about potential abuse, and pain management specialists “report the greatest comfort prescribing opioids for chronic pain,” the paper noted.

Across specialties, most doctors who responded to the survey indicated support for law enforcement access to prescription databases, but they felt such access should require a warrant or other court order designed to support the investigation of a specific case, rather than blanket access.

The findings were published in the paper “Professional Status and Physicians’ Views of Expanding Government Oversight of Prescribing Drugs,” in the journal Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World.

The other authors are Neal A. Carnes, a sociology student at Georgia State, Wyndy Greene Smelser, principal at WGS Consulting, and Ben Lennox Kail, an assistant professor of sociology at Georgia State.