Comagine Health’s Research and Evaluation Team Publishes Multiple Journal Articles

New Research Contributes Significantly to Scientific Learning

SALT LAKE CITY — Comagine Health, a leading national nonprofit health care consulting firm, published multiple peer-reviewed journal articles in 2020 contributing to the impact on opioid prescribing, harm reduction and the substance use crisis. Comagine Health’s research contributions are critical to understanding the complex nature of addiction and its impact on communities.

“The potential impact and reach that these findings have on opioid prescribing, harm reduction and the substance use crisis as a whole is significant,” Marc Bennett, Comagine Health’s president and chief executive officer, said. “Our ability to quickly pivot our work to understand how COVID-19 has impacted the communities we work with has been especially impressive.”

The information gleaned from these studies will help inform safe use messaging for people who use drugs, understanding of perceived barriers to care during a pandemic, prescribing practices, and understanding of the complex nature of addition and its impact on rural communities.

Comagine Health’s Research and Evaluation team recently published an annual report sharing an in-depth review of the substantial work done in 2020. The report includes information about projects, publications and presentations. The report also features a look into future research work.

The Research and Evaluation team began in 2012 with a partnership with Oregon Health & Science University Department of Family Medicine on an NIH-funded study investigating Oregon’s Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP). The team has been involved in 30 research and evaluation projects with findings cited in over 400 peer-reviewed journals.

Select journal articles published in 2020 include:

Health & Justice

Reducing Overdose After Release From Incarceration (ROAR): Study Protocol for an Intervention to Reduce Risk of and Non-Fatal Opioid Overdose Among Women After Release From Prison

Journal of Addiction Medicine

“Like Yin and Yang” Perceptions of Methamphetamine Benefits and Consequences Among People Who Use Opioids in Rural Communities

Journal of Addiction Medicine

The Impacts of COVID-19 on Mental Health, Substance Use, and Overdose Concerns for People Who Use Drugs

Journal of General Internal Medicine

Prescription Opioid Dispensing Patters Prior to Heroin Overdose in a State Medicaid Program: A Case-Control Study

Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety

A Comparison of Trends in Opioid Dispensing Patterns Between Medicaid Pharmacy Claims and Prescription Drug Monitoring Program Data

Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety

Identifying Opioid Dose Reductions and Discontinuation Among Patients With Chronic Opioid Therapy

To learn more about this work, please visit comagine.org/resource/1416.

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About Comagine Health

Comagine Health, formerly Qualis Health and HealthInsight, works collaboratively with patients, providers, payers and other stakeholders to reimagine, redesign and implement sustainable improvements in the health care system. As a trusted, neutral party, we work in our communities to address key, complex health and health care delivery problems. In all our engagements and initiatives, we draw upon our expertise in quality improvement, care management, health information technology, analytics and research. We invite our partners and communities to work with us to improve health and redesign the health care delivery system. For more information, please visit comagine.org.