Effects of a National Health Information Technology on Prescription Drug Use and Abuse

We examine how electronic prescriptions affect the use and abuse of benzodiazepines, one of the most widely prescribed psychoactive medications in the world. We exploit a plausibly exogenous rollout of a national e-prescription system in Finland. Using rich individual-level register data, we find that the reform increased prescription drug abuse among patients at risk for prescription drug abuse. The effect arises from an easier renewal of e-prescriptions and increased prescription drug utilization. Our results highlight the unintended consequences of policies that improve renewal of prescriptions and medical access in general.