Objective: To develop and evaluate a novel Opioid Safety Clinic (OSC) initiative to enhance adherence to guidelines on the assessment and monitoring of patients prescribed chronic opioid therapy (COT).
Patients and methods: The OSC was developed at an urban Federally Qualified Health Center to provide guideline-concordant care for COT, standardize workflows, and efficiently use clinic staff. We evaluated the OSC using a matched cohort study. Five hundred thirty-nine patients participated in the clinic between July 1, 2014, and March 31, 2016. Of these, 472 clinic participants were matched to 472 nonparticipants by sex and age on the date of the OSC visit. The OSC was evaluated by its completion rates of standardized pain assessments, urine toxicology, and naloxone dispensings. We conducted logistic regression comparing OSC participants to OSC nonparticipants.
Results: A total of 539 patients attended an OSC visit, representing approximately 53% of patients in the chronic opioid registry. The OSC participants were more likely than nonparticipants to have completed a pain assessment (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 169.8; 95% CI, 98.3-293.5), completed a urine toxicology (aOR, 46.1; 95% CI, 30.4-69.9), or had naloxone dispensed (aOR, 2.8; 95% CI, 1.9-4.3) over 12 months of follow-up.
Conclusion: The OSC model improved adherence to guideline-concordant COT in primary care. Future research is needed to assess the impact of these interventions on pain, quality of life, and adverse events from opioid analgesics.
Keywords: CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; COT, chronic opioid therapy; FQHC, Federally Qualified Health Center; MME, milligram morphine equivalents; OSC, Opioid Safety Clinic; PDMP, Prescription Drug Monitoring Program; aOR, adjusted odds ratio.