Discover how a groundbreaking quality improvement bundle is revolutionizing pain management and curbing opioid overprescription in the wake of total hip and knee arthroplasty surgeries.
– by James
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Successful implementation of a quality improvement bundle to reduce opioid overprescribing following total hip and knee arthroplasty.
Law et al., BMJ Open Qual 2023
DOI: 10.1136/bmjoq-2023-002360
Summary of Opioid Reduction Initiative After THA and TKA
What’s New: A quality improvement initiative successfully reduced the average amount of opioids prescribed at discharge after total hip (THA) and total knee arthroplasty (TKA) by 26.3%, exceeding the target of 15%.
Importance: This reduction is significant as it addresses the issue of opioid overprescribing and the potential for misuse and diversion of unused medications.
Contribution to Literature: The study demonstrates that a multifaceted intervention bundle, including patient and provider education, a standardized pain management algorithm, and autopopulated discharge prescriptions, can effectively decrease opioid prescriptions without compromising patient satisfaction.
Results:
– The mean oral morphine equivalents (OME) dispensed at discharge decreased from 522.2 mg to 384.9 mg.
– Autopopulated part-fill prescriptions were used in 95.8% of cases.
– Patient satisfaction remained unchanged.
– There was no increase in the number of patients needing additional opioid prescriptions.
– Only 39% of patients opted to fill the second half of their part-fill prescription.
This initiative shows that it is possible to reduce opioid prescriptions in a clinical setting without negatively affecting patient outcomes.