The Affordable Care Act and insurance coverage for young adults.

overdose and may reveal changes in prescribing practices that are shaping the evolving epidemic. Like Yokell et al, we have also noted—both in our own clinical practice and in that of colleagues—that real-time access to prescription databases for health professionals facilitates a patient-centered approach to addressing opioid abuse. In addition, we have encountered physicians managing chronic opioid therapy who are more comfortable checking a prescription monitoring program report than mandating urine drug screening, which requires awkward patient confrontation and can result in disruption of the patient-physician alliance. Additionally, we have found that when prescription monitoring program queries suggest opioid misuse or abuse, a physician in an office or emergency department has an ideal opportunity to address the issue and refer a patient to either community,outpatient, or inpatient treatmentoptions.Anecdotally, we have learned of several instances in which physicianspresentedpatientswith theirownresults fromaprescriptionmonitoringprogramsearch, leadingthepatient tothennot onlyrequest rehabilitationbut tobe takentoan inpatient treatment facility directly from the physician’s office. As clinicians, our goal will always be to appropriately treat a patient’s pain but also to ensure the patient’s safety and well-being and to facilitate an acknowledgment and redress of potentially dangerous behaviors.