Algorithmic Opacity in Opioid Risk Scoring and the Need for Transparent AI Regulation

Authors

• Sherry Yun Wang, Chapman UniversityFollow
• Ryan Stofer, Chapman University
• Zhouzhou Chu, Chapman University
• Xiao Huang, Emory University
• Ang Li, University of Maryland at College Park

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2-24-2026

Abstract

NarxCare®, a proprietary opioid risk scoring system embedded in Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMPs), has generated significant patient complaints. We adhered to the technical specifications and applied them to PDMP and IQVIA PharMetrics® Plus Closed Health Plan claims database. Despite adding socioeconomic covariates, precision (0.01–0.32) was far below the reported benchmark of 0.75, and F1 scores (0.02–0.39) were also substantially lower than the benchmark value of 0.65, across all our reconstructed models.

Comments

This article was originally published in npj Digital Medicine, volume 9r, in 2026. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-026-02491-y

Recommended Citation

Wang, S.Y., Stofer, R., Chu, Z. et al. Algorithmic opacity in opioid risk scoring and the need for transparent AI regulation. npj Digit. Med. 9, 341 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-026-02491-y

Copyright

The authors

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.