{"id":46762,"date":"2020-03-03T22:38:27","date_gmt":"2020-03-03T21:38:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/?p=46762"},"modified":"2020-03-04T12:57:14","modified_gmt":"2020-03-04T11:57:14","slug":"what-an-opioid-safety-initiative-can-teach-us-about-using-information-to-improve-patient-outcomes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2020\/03\/03\/what-an-opioid-safety-initiative-can-teach-us-about-using-information-to-improve-patient-outcomes\/","title":{"rendered":"What an opioid safety initiative can teach us about using information to improve patient outcomes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) takes pride in being a learning healthcare system. Our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bmj.com\/content\/368\/bmj.m283\">recent paper<\/a> exemplifies how the VHA translates that broad principle into action. Building on a decade of opioid safety related efforts<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, the paper\u2014which found increased risk associated with stopping opioid treatment by length of opioid treatment\u2014reflects VHA\u2019s commitment to identifying factors associated with outcomes for patients who have been prescribed opioids. [1] More important, however, is how VHA uses this information to improve care for patients.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The integrated nature of VHA\u2019s healthcare system allows it to move quickly on new evidence and guideline recommendations to improve care. For instance, after a number of studies identified risks associated with high dose opioid prescribing, VHA launched an opioid safety initiative in 2013 targeting high dose opioid prescribing. VHA\u2019s opioid safety initiative focused not only on opioid prescribing factors (i.e., high dose, co-prescribing with benzodiazepines), but also on risk mitigation (i.e., urine drug screening). These focus areas were based on internal evaluation. We had developed metrics to measure and promote adherence to the 2010 Department of Veterans Affairs\/Department of Defense Clinical Practice Guideline for Management of Opioid Therapy for Chronic Pain. [<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">2,3<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">] Regarding suicide and overdose risk, we found facility sedative co-prescribing rates associated with higher risk and urine drug screening rates associated with lower risk [<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">4,5]<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">VHA acted quickly to reshape care based on these findings and in parallel we disseminated findings more broadly through publication. When studies suggested benefits of overdose education and naloxone distribution, VHA supported a national overdose education and naloxone distribution\u00a0programme [<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">6]<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Since the inception of VHA\u2019s overdose education and naloxone distribution programme in 2014, over 200 000 veterans have received naloxone, which has resulted in more than 700 documented opioid overdose reversals. [<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">7]<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Likewise, VHA moved quickly on these new findings of overdose\/suicide risk associated with opioid cessation. After briefing VHA leaders, frontline facility leaders and clinical providers were educated through multiple communication channels. A medication use evaluation on opioid tapering was launched by VHA to further assess opioid cessation. In addition, clinical decision support systems have been updated to help identify and safely manage patients with recent opioid cessation. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">While the finding that there were risks after opioids were stopped may be surprising, our prior work prepared us for the results. VHA developed and nationally deployed the Stratification Tool for Opioid Risk Mitigation (STORM) that uses predictive analytics to identify patients at risk for overdose or suicide and provides individualized recommendations for risk mitigation strategies. [<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">8]<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0As shown by STORM, opioid dose was a weak predictor of overdose or suicide outcomes when other clinical risk factors were taken into consideration (e.g. previous overdose, mental health and substance use disorder comorbidities, medical comorbidities, prescribing risk factors). This finding was consistent with other predictive models [<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">9,10]<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Based on these findings, VHA expanded the opioid safety initiative to consider risk factors from a whole patient perspective rather than focusing on the opioid prescription itself. VHA formed teams at all VA medical centres to review and coordinate the care of veterans with opioid therapy who are predicted to be at highest risk for overdose or suicides, embedding a randomized evaluation into the implementation. [<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">11]<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A key take-home message is that addressing the opioid crisis requires us to move beyond solely focusing on opioids. [<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">1]<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0Factors associated with increased risk when patients are prescribed opioids are also associated with risk when opioids are no longer part of the patient\u2019s treatment plan (e.g. mental health disorders, medical complexity, other medications). Tools like STORM can help identify and stratify patients by risk. By using data iteratively to guide, evaluate, and redesign care, we can target services to improve patient safety and wellbeing. These efforts exemplify what it means to be a learning healthcare system.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Elizabeth M Oliva<\/strong>,<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Friedhelm Sandbrink<\/strong>,<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Jodie A Trafton.<\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Competing interests<\/strong>: Please see <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bmj.com\/content\/368\/bmj.m283\">linked research paper<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><b>References<\/b><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Gellad WF, Good CB, Shulkin DJ. Addressing the opioid epidemic in the United States: lessons from the Department of Veterans Affairs. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">JAMA Intern Med<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. 2017;177:611-2. doi:10.1001\/jamainternmed.2017.0147<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Midboe AM, Lewis ET, Paik MC, Gallagher RM, Rosenberg JM, Goodman F, Kerns RD, Becker WC, Trafton JA. Measurement of adherence to clinical practice guidelines for opioid therapy for chronic pain. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Transl Behav Med<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. 2012;2(1):57\u201364. doi:10.1007\/s13142-011-0104-5<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Buscaglia AC, Paik MC, Lewis E, Trafton JA; VA Opioid Metric Development Team. Baseline Variation in Use of VA\/DOD Clinical Practice Guideline Recommended Opioid Prescribing Practices Across VA Health Care Systems. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Clin J Pain<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. 2015;31(9):803\u2013812. doi:10.1097\/AJP.0000000000000160<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Brennan PL, Del Re AC, Henderson PT, Trafton JA. Healthcare system-wide implementation of opioid-safety guideline recommendations: the case of urine drug screening and opioid-patient suicide- and overdose-related events in the Veterans Health Administration. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Transl Behav Med<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. 2016;6(4):605\u2013612. doi:10.1007\/s13142-016-0423-7<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Im JJ, Shachter RD, Oliva EM, Henderson PT, Paik MC, Trafton JA, PROGRES Team. Association of Care Practices with Suicide Attempts in US Veterans Prescribed Opioid Medications for Chronic Pain Management. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">J Gen Intern Med<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. 2015;30(7):979\u2013991. doi:10.1007\/s11606-015-3220-y<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oliva EM, Christopher MLD, Wells D, Bounthavoung M, Harvey M, Himstreet J, Emmendorfer T, Valentino M, Franchi M, Goodman F, Trafton JA, Veterans Health Administrations Opioid Overdose Education and Naloxone Distribution National Support and Development Workgroup. Opioid overdose education and naloxone distribution: Development of the Veterans Health Administration&#8217;s national program. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">J Am Pharm Assoc (2003)<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. 2017;57(2S):S168\u2013S179.e4. doi:10.1016\/j.japh.2017.01.022<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">VA equips 200,000 Veterans with lifesaving naloxone.<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> New Release. November 5, 2019. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.va.gov\/opa\/pressrel\/pressrelease.cfm?id=5349\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">https:\/\/www.va.gov\/opa\/pressrel\/pressrelease.cfm?id=5349<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oliva EM, Bowe T, Tavakoli S, Martins S, Lewis ET, Paik M, Wiechers I, Henderson P, Harvey M, Avoundijian T, Medhanie A, Trafton JA. Development and applications of the Veterans Health Administration&#8217;s Stratification Tool for Opioid Risk Mitigation (STORM) to improve opioid safety and prevent overdose and suicide. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Psychol Serv<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. 2017;14(1):34\u201349. doi:10.1037\/ser0000099<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Zedler B, Xie L, Wang L, Joyce A, Vick C, Brigham J, Kariburyo F, Baser O, Murrelle L. Risk factors for serious prescription opioid-related toxicity or overdose among Veterans Health Administration patients. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Pain Med.<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> 2014;15:1911-29. doi:10.1111\/pme.12480<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/?term=Glanz%20JM%5BAuthor%5D&amp;cauthor=true&amp;cauthor_uid=29380216\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Glanz JM<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/?term=Narwaney%20KJ%5BAuthor%5D&amp;cauthor=true&amp;cauthor_uid=29380216\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Narwaney KJ<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/?term=Mueller%20SR%5BAuthor%5D&amp;cauthor=true&amp;cauthor_uid=29380216\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mueller SR<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/?term=Gardner%20EM%5BAuthor%5D&amp;cauthor=true&amp;cauthor_uid=29380216\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Gardner EM<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/?term=Calcaterra%20SL%5BAuthor%5D&amp;cauthor=true&amp;cauthor_uid=29380216\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Calcaterra SL<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/?term=Xu%20S%5BAuthor%5D&amp;cauthor=true&amp;cauthor_uid=29380216\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Xu S<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/?term=Breslin%20K%5BAuthor%5D&amp;cauthor=true&amp;cauthor_uid=29380216\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Breslin K<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/?term=Binswanger%20IA%5BAuthor%5D&amp;cauthor=true&amp;cauthor_uid=29380216\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Binswanger IA<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Prediction Model for Two-Year Risk of Opioid Overdose Among Patients Prescribed Chronic Opioid Therapy. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/29380216\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">J Gen Intern Med.<\/span><\/i><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> 2018 Oct;33(10):1646-1653. doi: 10.1007\/s11606-017-4288-3.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Minegishi T, Frakt AB, Garrido MM, Gellad WF, Hausmann LRM, Lewis ET, Pizer SD, Trafton JA, Oliva EM. Randomized program evaluation of the Veterans Health Administration Stratification Tool for Opioid Risk Mitigation (STORM): A research and clinical operations partnership to examine effectiveness. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Subst Abus<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. 2019;40(1):14\u201319. doi:10.1080\/08897077.2018.1540376<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) takes pride in being a learning healthcare system. Our recent paper exemplifies how the VHA translates that broad principle into action. Building on a decade [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2020\/03\/03\/what-an-opioid-safety-initiative-can-teach-us-about-using-information-to-improve-patient-outcomes\/\">More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18894],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-authors-perspective"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What an opioid safety initiative can teach us about using information to improve patient outcomes - The BMJ<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2020\/03\/03\/what-an-opioid-safety-initiative-can-teach-us-about-using-information-to-improve-patient-outcomes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What an opioid safety initiative can teach us about using information to improve patient outcomes - The BMJ\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) takes pride in being a learning healthcare system. 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Our recent paper exemplifies how the VHA translates that broad principle into action. 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