A study last month in Health Affairs found that doctors in states that track painkiller prescriptions were nearly one-third less likely to offer patients opioids. Other previous studies found drug-monitoring programs effectively reduced doctor shopping, opioid diversion and inappropriate prescribing, the authors of the current study write.

Dr. Silvia Martins, a substance-abuse researcher at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in New York City, said in a phone interview that she was not surprised by the new study’s findings.

“I would expect prescription drug-monitoring programs to have an effect in reducing opioid deaths,” said Martins, who was not involved in the current study. “That’s what we hope they do.”

“We need to have more data, and we need to have more time to understand how they work and to understand which characteristics work,” she said.

The new study lacked sufficient data to analyze the value of programs that order physicians to register for and use drug-monitoring programs. But Patrick and Martins both said they are eager to see research on the effectiveness of mandatory doctor registration in future studies.

Nonetheless, Martins cautioned that “prescription drug-monitoring programs are just one of the tools to curb the prescription-opioid epidemic.”

“This may be a way to identify someone and get them to treatment. It can help facilitate a conversation with a physician,” Patrick said.

“We’re beginning as a society to think about pain in a different way,” he said. “Are we using these drugs appropriately? If not, what other strategies do we have?”