An Educated Patient—and Provider—May Help Improve Opioid Prescribing Practices

As healthcare providers in every setting continue the fight against rampant opioid abuse and addiction—with urgent care centers often the target of drug seekers—there’s new hope that relatively simple educational initiatives could help turn the tide. In a study published in the journal Pain Medicine, 167 clinicians at the University of Washington were asked to complete an educational program on the safe and responsible prescribing of opioid medications for the management of acute pain. The objective was to see if improving their knowledge, awareness, and confidence would also increase their adherence to relevant guidelines. They were asked to complete an online survey 6 months later to assess improvements in knowledge and perceived competence in managing opioids for acute pain, and on the impact of the use of three guidelines in clinical practice. According to the authors, improved knowledge on creating a safe opioid taper plan, on safe initiation of opioid therapy in patients with acute pain, and about differences between short- and long-acting opioids were associated with increased self-reported likelihood of consulting the Prescription Monitoring Program, greater use of multimodal analgesia, and reduced duration of opioids prescribed for acute pain.