Quickly identifying people at risk of opioid use disorder in emergency departments: trade-offs between a machine learning approach and a simple EHR flag strategy.

Patients who present at the ED with OUD are high-need patients who are typically smokers with psychiatric, chronic pain and substance use disorders. A machine learning model did not improve predictive ability. A quick review of a patient's EHR for history of OUD is an efficient strategy to identify those who are currently at greatest risk of OUD.