Opioid Prescribers in Medicare Part D
450,343 Medicare Part D providers prescribed opioids in 2023 — that's 33% of all prescribers. Here's where and how they prescribe.
450,343
Opioid Prescribers
113,169
High Rate (>20%)
1,380,665
Total Prescribers
32.6%
Prescribing Opioids
Opioid Prescribing by State
States ranked by average opioid prescribing rate among Medicare Part D providers.
| # | State | Avg Opioid Rate | Opioid Prescribers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Utah | 17.1% | 4,074 |
| 2 | Colorado | 17.1% | 8,983 |
| 3 | Missouri | 17.0% | 8,595 |
| 4 | Alabama | 16.6% | 6,422 |
| 5 | Arizona | 16.0% | 9,285 |
| 6 | District of Columbia | 16.0% | 999 |
| 7 | Kansas | 15.8% | 4,775 |
| 8 | Louisiana | 15.7% | 7,270 |
| 9 | Maryland | 15.6% | 7,454 |
| 10 | Ohio | 15.6% | 18,527 |
| 11 | Idaho | 15.6% | 3,020 |
| 12 | Indiana | 15.6% | 10,363 |
| 13 | Alaska | 15.4% | 910 |
| 14 | South Dakota | 15.4% | 1,537 |
| 15 | Connecticut | 15.3% | 5,484 |
| 16 | Delaware | 15.1% | 1,332 |
| 17 | Oregon | 15.0% | 7,662 |
| 18 | Washington | 15.0% | 11,510 |
| 19 | Minnesota | 15.0% | 9,098 |
| 20 | Michigan | 14.9% | 17,242 |
| 21 | Tennessee | 14.9% | 11,282 |
| 22 | Nevada | 14.9% | 3,317 |
| 23 | Wisconsin | 14.8% | 9,671 |
| 24 | Oklahoma | 14.8% | 4,943 |
| 25 | Mississippi | 14.8% | 4,401 |
| 26 | Nebraska | 14.8% | 3,081 |
| 27 | Georgia | 14.6% | 12,899 |
| 28 | Illinois | 14.6% | 17,087 |
| 29 | Montana | 14.5% | 1,996 |
| 30 | Virginia | 14.4% | 10,674 |
| 31 | Kentucky | 14.4% | 6,873 |
| 32 | Massachusetts | 14.3% | 11,439 |
| 33 | Hawaii | 14.3% | 1,589 |
| 34 | Arkansas | 14.2% | 4,691 |
| 35 | Pennsylvania | 14.2% | 20,066 |
| 36 | North Carolina | 14.2% | 16,423 |
| 37 | Florida | 14.2% | 27,872 |
| 38 | Texas | 14.1% | 29,529 |
| 39 | New Hampshire | 13.9% | 2,243 |
| 40 | North Dakota | 13.9% | 1,354 |
| 41 | New Jersey | 13.8% | 9,773 |
| 42 | South Carolina | 13.8% | 8,096 |
| 43 | New York | 13.7% | 23,154 |
| 44 | Wyoming | 13.7% | 832 |
| 45 | Rhode Island | 13.6% | 1,831 |
| 46 | California | 13.6% | 43,850 |
| 47 | Maine | 13.2% | 2,655 |
| 48 | Iowa | 13.0% | 4,938 |
| 49 | New Mexico | 12.5% | 2,758 |
| 50 | West Virginia | 12.4% | 2,804 |
| 51 | Vermont | 10.6% | 921 |
| 52 | Puerto Rico | 5.3% | 2,558 |
Top 25 Opioid Prescribers
Providers with the highest opioid prescribing rates (minimum 100 claims).
| Provider | Opioid Rate | Claims |
|---|---|---|
| Cory CarlstonM.D. | 80.7% | 212 |
| Tyler MartinNP | 79.4% | 2,720 |
| Matthew TweetMD | 78.1% | 237 |
| Jonathan RiggsPA | 77.2% | 149 |
| Ali KassamaliM.D. | 77.0% | 4,778 |
| Laura HafertepenDO | 77.0% | 139 |
| Ryan ZitzkeM.D. | 70.2% | 114 |
| Nathan PolleyMD | 70.1% | 384 |
| Angela SedaM.D. | 69.3% | 114 |
| Tracye LawyerMD, PHD | 67.0% | 270 |
| Salim DurraniMD | 65.6% | 5,994 |
| Venkatesh SundararajanM.D. | 63.2% | 1,964 |
| Marcus GatesMD | 62.7% | 158 |
| Troy BabbDDS | 62.0% | 142 |
| Eduardo OzunaM.D. | 60.8% | 953 |
| Violeta Calhoun-StandleyARNP | 60.1% | 762 |
| Andy PhungD.O. | 59.5% | 3,636 |
| Joseph KwokD.O. | 58.1% | 893 |
| Stephanie PearsonM.D. | 57.6% | 6,060 |
| Shashikant PatilM.D | 57.5% | 402 |
| Olugbemiga JegedeM.D | 56.6% | 159 |
| Irene BorjaFNP-BC | 56.4% | 181 |
| Trevor MciverMD | 56.0% | 250 |
| Aisha Baqai | 55.3% | 1,835 |
| Helen OllerM.D. | 54.5% | 244 |
Understanding Opioid Prescribing Data
Not all opioid prescribing is inappropriate. Pain management specialists, oncologists, and palliative care providers legitimately prescribe opioids at higher rates. Our scoring methodology accounts for this by comparing each provider against their specialty peers — flagging only those who significantly exceed their own specialty's average.
Key risk indicators include: prescribing rates far above specialty peers, high use of opioid + benzodiazepine combinations, low drug diversity (prescribing only a handful of drugs, mostly controlled substances), and high fills per patient.