{"id":4545,"date":"2015-12-07T10:45:25","date_gmt":"2015-12-07T15:45:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.khpi.org\/blog\/?p=4545"},"modified":"2017-02-13T14:02:09","modified_gmt":"2017-02-13T19:02:09","slug":"mapping-part-d-medicare-opioid-prescriptions-in-kentucky-by-county-and-zip-code","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.khpi.org\/blog\/mapping-part-d-medicare-opioid-prescriptions-in-kentucky-by-county-and-zip-code\/","title":{"rendered":"Mapping Part-D Medicare Opioid Prescriptions in Kentucky By County and Zip Code"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a\u00a0technical\u00a0test-posting last week<\/a>, I reworked the dataset used by Medicare to show where prescriptions\u00a0of opioids to Part-D Medicare patients were written in Kentucky in 2013 by five-digit Zip Code. \u00a0I reworked the data to add the average number of opioid prescriptions written by\u00a0an\u00a0opioid prescriber in that zip code.\u00a0This supplements\u00a0Medicare’s own calculation of the percent of all prescriptions that are for opioids in a given area. Both these indices provide insight into the intensity of opioid prescribing in a given area. \u00a0In today’s\u00a0posting, I add a map of the same data broken down by Kentucky county. \u00a0Not surprisingly, significant geographic variation exists\u00a0in both maps\u00a0that is compatible both with public\u00a0perception of places where prescription drug abuse is prevalent, and locations\u00a0where individual prescriber outliers practice. This particular dataset is based on the principal\u00a0business address\u00a0of the prescriber, but I have shown that prescribing of opioids to Medicare patients correlates strongly<\/a> with prescribing\u00a0to all patients, and\u00a0that not unexpectedly, the location of the prescriber predicts\u00a0were the patients live. Descriptions of the underlying data and caveats for\u00a0its use are discussed in earlier articles<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mapping by county:<\/strong>
\nBelow is a map of opioid prescribing to Medicare patients by county. The maps are fully interactive. The viewer can use the legend to switch from one measured index to another, or to zoom in on various areas. Clicking on a shaded area displays the underlying data for that county.