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NYC public health detailing campaigns on judicious opioid prescribing

The New York City Health Department sent trained representatives to visit prescribers one-to-one, pharmaceutical-sales style, with an "action kit" of recommendations, tools and patient materials. The first opioid campaign ran in Staten Island in 2013 with three messages: a 3-day supply is usually enough for acute pain, avoid opioids for chronic non-cancer pain, avoid high doses. Later waves covered other boroughs and naloxone and buprenorphine.

Years
2013–now
Country
United States
Topic
Opioids
Asks people to
Stop
Strategy
Simple instructionTrusted messenger
Channel
Clinical settingPrint
Audience
Clinicians
Primary care and other prescribers in Staten Island (2013), later other boroughs; pharmacists in some waves.

Evidence

ObservationalMixed

Staten Island 2013 (Kattan 2016): 866 providers visited; knowledge rose for all three recommendations; overall prescribing fell about as much in Staten Island as in other boroughs, but the high-dose prescribing rate fell more in Staten Island, and median days' supply held steady there while rising elsewhere.

Sponsor (who paid)

  • New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene State local government, funder and creator

Credits (who made it)

Not recorded yet.

Related campaigns

Sources

  1. Kattan JA, Tuazon E, Paone D et al. Public Health Detailing - A Successful Strategy to Promote Judicious Opioid Analgesic Prescribing. Am J Public Health 106(8):1430-8 evaluation · 2016 · DOI 10.2105/ajph.2016.303274 · PMID 27400353

Research notes

Clinician-facing campaign. Discovered 2026-10-22 for #17 (clinician-campaigns pass). PMC article fetched 2026-10-22. The NYC Health opioid action-kit page (nyc.gov/site/doh/providers/resources/public-health-action-kits-opioid.page) returned 404 on 2026-10-22; search snippets mention a 2017 Brooklyn wave and a 2013 Commissioner letter to Staten Island prescribers (PDF not readable). Later naloxone and buprenorphine detailing waves are unconfirmed on a fetched page. endYear null = program believed ongoing; unverified. Procurement search 2026-10-22: NYC City Record awards (data.cityofnewyork.us dg92-zbpx) show DOHMH's detailing field-force contractors: On Call LLC ('Public Health Detailing sales force', awards 2005-2012) and Innovative Customer Solutions ('Campaign Outreach - Citywide Public Health Detailing', USD 9,000,000 renewal Nov 2021; 12-month extension Jun 2025, USD 750,440). Possible vendor (detailing delivery, not creative): On Call LLC for the 2013-2016 opioid waves and Innovative Customer Solutions for 2021+; the awards do not name the opioid campaigns, and no role in the credit schema fits field detailing.

Record cases/nyc-public-health-detailing-opioids.json, updated 2026-10-22· Link to this campaign