Articles: opioid.
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Introduction: Online opioid conversion calculators (OOCCs) are commonly used to aid conversion between opioids to overcome tolerance, reduce adverse effects, or challenges related to administration. The purpose of this study was to describe and characterize variability among OOCC used by health care practitioners when converting common opioids and doses encountered in the hospice and palliative care setting. Methods: We collected 58 quantitative surveys and performed sentiment analysis on 62 qualitative responses from adult learners primarily practicing in the palliative care setting and enrolled in an online palliative care Master of Science program through the University of Maryland, Baltimore, who were asked to perform opioid conversion calculations using realistic patient cases. ⋯ These differences can be particularly dangerous given the higher opioid doses commonly used in the palliative care setting. Considering the significant harm that can arise from an error when converting between opioids, clinicians should avoid the routine use of OOCC in real-world patient care settings. If an OOCC is used, organizations should endorse a specific calculator, provide training and education about the algorithm that supports the calculations, and encourage clinicians to use it only after their own manual calculation, which should be documented in the medical record.
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Concurrent use of prescription opioids with gabapentinoids may pose risks of serious drug interactions. Yet, little is known about the trends in and patient characteristics associated with concurrent opioid-gabapentinoid use among older Medicare opioid users with chronic noncancer pain. ⋯ Concurrent opioid-gabapentinoid use among older Medicare beneficiaries with chronic noncancer pain and prescription opioids has increased significantly between 2011 and 2018. Future studies are warranted to investigate the impact of concurrent use on outcomes in older patients. Interventions that reduce inappropriate concurrent use may target older patients with identified characteristics.
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Annals of family medicine · Apr 2022
Using chart reviews to evaluate a continuing medical education (CME) program.
Context Moore's Expanded Outcomes Framework is a 7 level framework commonly used to assess the outcomes of continuing medical education (CME) programs. Levels 1 to 5 are provider-level outcomes (participation, satisfaction, knowledge, competence, and performance) while levels 6 and 7 are patient- and community-level outcomes. Chart reviews are one method to assess level 5 (performance). ⋯ Trends in results showed marginal, but non-significant, improvements in PCP performance after ECHO as indicated by increased use of pain and opioid management strategies. Conclusions Conducting chart reviews was a challenging method to assess provider performance. Future work to assess provider performance should include a qualitative component (in-depth interviews or focus groups) in order to complement the quantitative data and provide context for care and management decisions.