Dr. Talusan is a primary care nurse practitioner for the VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System in North Las Vegas. Dr. Kawi is an assistant professor and Dr. Candela is an associate professor, both at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, School of Nursing; Dr. Filler is a professor in the educational and clinical studies department at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Author disclosures The authors report no actual or potential conflicts of interest with regard to this article.
Disclaimer The opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of Federal Practitioner, Frontline Medical Communications Inc., the U.S. Government, or any of its agencies. This article may discuss unlabeled or investigational use of certain drugs. Please review the complete prescribing information for specific drugs or drug combinations—including indications, contraindications, warnings, and adverse effects—before administering pharmacologic therapy to patients.
Conclusion
The OMC effectively reduced the MED of patients referred to the clinic by 59%. The significant reduction in the opioid dose of patients referred to the OMC resulted from the implementation of evidence-based strategies that were used to identify abuse of prescription opioids, the use of illicit substances that can cause opioid-related complications, and the discovery of doctor shopping, coupled with gradual dose reductions for patients when appropriate. Provider satisfaction and increased use of evidence-based guidelines in opioid management and risk mitigation strategies, such as OPAs, PDMP databases, and UDS were evident. These results suggest that an OMC can be an effective program to help identify abuse and misuse of prescription opioids among high-risk patients and can improve patient safety and provider satisfaction.
Acknowledgments This material is the result of work supported with resources and the use of facilities at the VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System.
