About half the veterans who get their care through the VA are also eligible for Medicare's drug benefit — and they're more likely to overdose on prescription opioids than patients who use either the VA or Medicare alone, according to a new study published today in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Why it matters: We obviously would prefer to have as few veterans as possible die from overdoses, and these findings are also a good reminder that care fragmentation is an issue throughout the system. The study "underscores the importance of care coordination across health care systems to improve opioid prescribing safety," its authors wrote.
