Before It Is Too Late: Implementation Strategies of an Efficient Opioid and Pain Stewardship Program

Abstract

Hospital pharmacies may not have the necessary resources, tools, or policies in place to implement a valuable opioid stewardship program. Meanwhile, the number of opioid prescriptions and medication use has increased nationwide. The overuse of opioids is due to the challenging nature of pain management, drug diversion prevention, and opioid abuse, as well as difficulty in recognizing and implementing best practices regarding opioid stewardship. The purpose of this review is to describe the components and executional strategy of an effective opioid and pain stewardship program. Opioid and pain stewardship programs can help identify opportunities for better adherence to best practice recommendations such as standardization of opioid dosing strategies, prescription of multimodal and opioid-sparing regimens, identification of substance misuse, review of patient history information, recognition of pain as a disease state, and increased dispensing of opioid reversal medications.

Keywords: ambulatory services-prescription service; analgesics; clinical pathways; clinical services; disease management; pain management.