Interdisciplinary Approach to Opioid Safety in Ambulatory Care

The United States opioid crisis is considered a public health emergency due to the deaths associated with drug overdose, with more than 60% of deaths involving an opioid. The focus of the project is to standardize the prescribing and monitoring process for scheduled controlled substances in primary care.

The project outlines a detailed process for organizations to choose a maintenance model for opioid patients that will work despite staffing mixes or EMR functionality. Additionally, it assists the primary care team in properly evaluating the patient risks and aligning their prescribing practice to evidence-based guidelines, creating a consistent approach for all patients.

The project can be utilized by various staffing mixes. Our project begins when the patient is on a stabilized opioid dose. At this time, nursing and/or advanced practice providers can screen the patient utilizing various methods and tools to appropriately refill the patients opioid medications in between primary care office visits. In addition to consistent screening processes, nursing and advanced practice providers can appropriately educate on naloxone prescribing, prescription drug monitoring, and proper pain consents.

The goal of our project is to involve nursing and/or advanced practice providers in the opioid screening process to support prescribers with their efforts to safely prescribe and educate about opioids.

References
1) Simonette, P., Hernandez, M., Irizarry-Pelletier, J., McNeil, S., & Orfitelli, J. (2020). Nursing Care and Patient Safety with Opioid Use in a Primary Care Setting. View Point, 42(3), 3-6. Retrieved February 5, 2021