Table 1.
Change in county‐level access to buprenorphine and oral naltrexone prescribers, 2010‐2015
| 2010 | 2015 | Change from 2010 to 2015 | t statistic, P‐value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total number of buprenorphine prescribers per 1000 Medicare enrollees in the county, mean | 0.19 | 0.23 | 0.04 | 5.03, P < 0.001 |
| Total number of oral naltrexone prescribers per 1000 Medicare enrollees in the county, mean | 0.12 | 0.11 | −0.01 | 1.29, P = 0.20 |
| Percentage of counties with a buprenorphine prescriber, n (%) | 955 (32.7%) | 1200 (40.0%) | 7.3% | 5.86, P < 0.001 |
| Percentage of counties with an oral naltrexone prescriber, n (%) | 598 (20.5%) | 727 (24.3%) | 3.8% | 3.47, P < 0.001 |
| Percentage of rural counties with a buprenorphine prescriber, n (%) | 40 (7.5%) | 49 (9.4%) | 1.9% | 1.13, P = 0.26 |
| Percentage of rural counties with an oral naltrexone prescriber, n (%) | 8 (1.5%) | 6 (1.2%) | −0.3% | 0.49, P = 0.63 |
| Percentage of urban counties with a buprenorphine prescriber, n (%) | 915 (38.4.%) | 1151 (46.5%) | 8.1% | 5.72, P < 0.001 |
| Percentage of urban counties with an oral naltrexone prescriber, n (%) | 590 (24.7%) | 721 (29.1%) | 4.4% | 3.43, P = 0.001 |
| Number of buprenorphine physicians per 1000 Medicare enrollees in rural counties, mean | 0.52 | 0.56 | 0.04 | 0.53, P = 0.60 |
| Number of oral naltrexone physicians per 1000 Medicare enrollees in rural counties, mean | 0.27 | 0.48 | 0.22 | a |
| Number of buprenorphine physicians per 1000 Medicare enrollees in urban counties, mean | 0.17 | 0.22 | 0.04 | 5.66, P < 0.001 |
| Number of oral naltrexone physicians per 1000 Medicare enrollees in urban counties, mean | 0.12 | 0.11 | −0.01 | 1.49, P = 0.137 |
a
Due to small cell sizes, we were unable to perform a t test.