Effect of a Predictive Analytics-Targeted Program in Patients on Opioids: a Stepped-Wedge Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND: Risk of overdose, suicide, and other adverse outcomes are elevated among sub-populations prescribed opioid analgesics. To address this, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) developed the Stratification Tool for Opioid Risk Mitigation (STORM)-a provider-facing dashboard that utilizes predictive analytics to stratify patients prescribed opioids based on risk for overdose/suicide. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of the case review mandate on serious adverse events (SAEs) and all-cause mortality among high-risk Veterans. DESIGN: A 23-month stepped-wedge cluster randomized controlled trial in all 140 VHA medical centers between 2018 and 2020. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 44,042 patients actively prescribed opioid analgesics with high STORM risk scores (i.e., percentiles 1% to 5%) for an overdose or suicide-related event. INTERVENTION: A mandate requiring providers to perform case reviews on opioid analgesic-prescribed patients at high risk of overdose/suicide. MAIN MEASURES: Nine serious adverse events (SAEs), case review completion, number of risk mitigation strategies, and all-cause mortality. KEY RESULTS: Mandated review inclusion was associated with a significant decrease in all-cause mortality within 4 months of inclusion (OR: 0.78; 95% CI: 0.65-0.94). There was no detectable effect on SAEs. Stepped-wedge analyses found that mandated review patients were five times more likely to receive a case review than non-mandated patients with similar risk (OR: 5.1; 95% CI: 3.64-7.23) and received more risk mitigation strategies than non-mandated patients (0.498; CI: 0.39-0.61). CONCLUSIONS: Among VHA patients prescribed opioid analgesics, identifying high risk patients and mandating they receive an interdisciplinary case review was associated with a decrease in all-cause mortality. Results suggest that providers can leverage predictive analytic-targeted population health approaches and interdisciplinary collaboration to improve patient outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN16012111.

Impact of Mandated Case Review Policy on Opioid Discontinuation and Mortality Among High-Risk Long-Term Opioid Therapy Patients: The STORM Stepped-Wedge Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND: Although long-term opioid therapy (LTOT) has its own risks, opioid discontinuation could pose harm for high-risk Veterans Health Administration (VHA) patients receiving LTOT. There is limited information on the impact of a mandate requiring providers to perform case reviews on high-risk patients with an active opioid prescription (ie, mandated case review policy) on opioid discontinuation and mortality. METHODS: Our study is a secondary data analysis of a 23-month stepped-wedge cluster randomized controlled trial between April 2018 and March 2020. The study included 10 685 LTOT patients with a predicted risk of a serious adverse event between the top 1% to 5% nationally who entered the risk range between 4/18/2018 and 11/9/2019. We examined whether the mandated case review policy had an impact on opioid discontinuation and mortality for the patients. RESULTS: Among 10 685 LTOT patients (88.2% male; mean [SD] age, 61.1 [11.7] years), 29.1% experienced discontinuation and the mortality rate was 9.5%. Patients under mandated case review had a decreased risk of opioid discontinuation (average marginal effect [AME], -11.16 [95% CI, -15.30 to -7.01] percentage points) and all-cause mortality (AME, -3.31 [95% CI, -5.63 to -1.00] percentage points), relative to patients who were not under the mandate. CONCLUSIONS: The VHA mandated case review policy was associated with lower probability of discontinuation and all-cause mortality for high-risk patients receiving LTOT. Interventions that maintain care engagement while optimizing pain management for high-risk patients may be beneficial for minimizing mortality and other risks associated with discontinuation.

Opioid Use and Its Relationship to Cardiovascular Disease and Brain Health: A Presidential Advisory From the American Heart Association.

The misuse of opioids continues to be epidemic, resulting in dependency and a recent upsurge in drug overdoses that have contributed to a significant decrease in life expectancy in the United States. Moreover, recent data suggest that commonly used opioids for the management of pain may produce undesirable pharmacological actions and interfere with critical medications commonly used in cardiovascular disease and stroke; however, the impact on outcomes remains controversial. The American Heart Association developed an advisory statement for health care professionals and researchers in the setting of cardiovascular and brain health to synthesize the current literature, to provide approaches for identifying patients with opioid use disorder, and to address pain management and overdose. A literature and internet search spanning from January 1, 2012, to February 15, 2021, and limited to epidemiology studies, reviews, consensus statements, and guidelines in human subjects was conducted. Suggestions and considerations listed in this document are based primarily on published evidence from this review whenever possible, as well as expert opinion. Several federal and institutional consensus documents and clinical resources are currently available to both patients and clinicians; however, none have specifically addressed cardiovascular disease and brain health. Although strategic tools and therapeutic approaches for recognition of opioid use disorder and safe opioid use are available for health care professionals who manage patients with cardiovascular disease and stroke, high-quality evidence does not currently exist. Therefore, there is an urgent need for more research to identify the most effective approaches to improve care for these patients.

Medication Use Evaluation of High-Dose Long-Term Opioid De-prescribing in Multiple Veterans Affairs Medical Centers.

BACKGROUND: The Opioid Safety Initiative (OSI) was implemented in 2013 to enhance the safe and appropriate use of opioids in the Veterans Health Administration (VA). Opioid use decreased nationally in subsequent years, but characterization of opioid de-prescribing practices has not been well established. OBJECTIVES: To describe changes in patient characteristics and patterns of de-prescribing since OSI implementation for opioid users at > 90 morphine equivalent daily dose for at least 90 days for those that discontinued opioids within the VA. DESIGN: Retrospective observational pre-post intervention medication use evaluation using VA data and electronic health records to identify differences in opioid de-prescribing between fiscal year 2013 (FY13; early OSI) and FY17 (late OSI). Reviewers' insights for local opioid management and de-prescribing practices collected through web-based post-data collection survey. PARTICIPANTS: Veterans prescribed high-dose long-term opioid therapy in FY13 and FY17 who subsequently discontinued opioids at 27 VA medical centers. MAIN MEASURES: Chart review data from local facility reviewers identified socioeconomic characteristics, opioid de-prescribing rationale (e.g., risk-benefit, diversion) and practices (e.g., rate of opioid discontinuation, taper monitoring activities, withdrawal monitoring), and outcomes following discontinuation. KEY RESULTS: Among 315 patients in FY13 and 322 patients in FY17 with opioid discontinuation, discontinuation rationale focused on diversion in FY13 and risk-benefit in FY17. Clinical pharmacists and pain management specialists had increased involvement in FY17 opioid discontinuations (36% versus 16%). Of all discontinuations, 56% of patients were tapered in FY13 versus 70% of patients in FY17. Tapering plans were longer in FY17 than in FY13 (163 days versus 65 days). Transitions to non-opioid pain therapy following opioid discontinuation were higher in FY17 compared to FY13 (70% versus 60%). CONCLUSIONS: Veterans discontinued from high-dose long-term opioids in FY17 were more optimally managed compared to those in FY13. Findings suggest improvements in opioid de-prescribing following OSI implementation, but interpretation is limited by study design.

Randomized Policy Evaluation of the Veterans Health Administration Stratification Tool for Opioid Risk Mitigation (STORM).

BACKGROUND: The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) developed a dashboard Stratification Tool for Opioid Risk Mitigation (STROM) to guide clinical practice interventions. VHA released a policy mandating that high-risk patients of an adverse event based on the STORM dashboard are to be reviewed by an interdisciplinary team of clinicians. AIM: Randomized program evaluation to evaluate if patients in the oversight arm had a lower risk of opioid-related serious adverse events (SAEs) or death compared to those in the non-oversight arm. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: One-hundred and forty VHA facilities (aka medical centers) were randomly assigned to two groups: oversight and non-oversight arms. VHA patients who were prescribed opioids between April 18, 2018, and November 8, 2019, were included in the cohort. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION: We hypothesized that patients cared for by VHA facilities that received the policy with the oversight accountability language would achieve lower opioid-related SAEs or death. PROGRAM EVALUATION: We did not observe a relationship between the oversight arm and opioid-related SAEs or death. Patients in the non-oversight arm had a significantly higher chance of receiving a case review compared to those in the oversight arm. DISCUSSION: Even though our findings were unexpected, the STORM policy overall was likely successful in focusing the provider's attention on very high-risk patients.

Association of multidisciplinary education and research in substance use and addiction's (AMERSA) 2021 transforming care through evidence and policy conference: Tackling stigma and giving voice to lived experience.

This commentary provides an overview of the Association of Multidisciplinary Education and Research in Substance use and Addiction (AMERSA) 2021 annual conference: Transforming Care Through Evidence and Policy. The topics covered during the conference were especially critical given the unprecedented rise in drug overdose deaths and continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on substance use and addiction. The importance of tackling stigma and ensuring that we partner with those with lived experience to have maximal impact was highlighted.

Alcohol use disorder pharmacotherapy and treatment in primary care (ADaPT-PC) trial: Impact on identified barriers to implementation.

Background: A minority of individuals meeting diagnostic criteria for alcohol use disorders (AUD) receive any type of formal treatment. Developing options for AUD treatment within primary care settings is imperative to increase treatment access. A multi-faceted implementation intervention including provider and patient education, clinician reminders, development of local champions and ongoing facilitation was designed to enhance access to AUD pharmacotherapy in primary care settings at three large Veterans Health Administration (VHA) facilities. This qualitative study compared pre-implementation barriers to post-implementation barriers identified via provider interviews to identify those barriers addressed and not addressed by the intervention to better understand the limited impact of the intervention. Methods: Following the nine-month implementation period, primary care providers at the three participating facilities took part in qualitative interviews to collect perceptions regarding which pre-implementation barriers had and had not been successfully addressed by the intervention. Participants included 20 primary care providers from three large VHA facilities. Interviews were coded using common coding techniques for qualitative data using the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) codebook. Summary reports were created for each CFIR construct for each facility and the impact of each CFIR construct on implementation was coded as positive, neutral, or negative. Results: Some barriers identified during pre-implementation interviews were no longer identified as barriers in the post-implementation interviews. These included Relative Advantage, Relative Priority, and Knowledge & Beliefs about the Innovation. However, Compatibility, Design Quality & Packaging, and Available Resources remained barriers at the end of the implementation period. No substantial new barriers were identified. Conclusions: The implementation intervention appears to have been successful at addressing barriers that could be mitigated with traditional educational approaches. However, the intervention did not adequately address structural and organizational barriers to implementation. Recommendations for enhancing future interventions are provided.

Opioid Discontinuation Among Patients Receiving High-Dose Long-Term Opioid Therapy in the Veterans Health Administration.

BACKGROUND: Prior opioid discontinuation studies have focused on one of two characteristics of opioid prescribing, its duration (long term vs not) or dosage (high vs low). Questions remain about the experience of patients with high-dose, long-term opioid therapy (HLOT) prescriptions who are likely to be at the highest risk for adverse events. OBJECTIVE: We address the following questions among the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) patients receiving HLOT: 1), How has the prevalence of discontinuation of opioids changed over time? 2), How do patient characteristics vary between those who do and do not discontinue? And 3), how does the prevalence of discontinuation vary geographically? DESIGN: A retrospective observational study of VHA patients with HLOT between fiscal year (FY) 2014 and FY2018. PARTICIPANTS: We identified 1,281,330 patients from VHA outpatient opioid prescription data with at least a 1-day opioid supply between FY2014 and FY2018. We identified and excluded those receiving palliative care or diagnosed with metastatic cancer. MAIN MEASURES: For a given patient and month, a patient having a 3-month moving average of ≥ 90 daily morphine milligram equivalent (MME) was defined as having HLOT. Similarly, we used a three-month average MME of zero as discontinuation. KEY RESULTS: The prevalence of discontinuation among patients with HLOT increased from 6.3% in FY2014 to 7.8% in FY2018. Across the years, patients who discontinued were younger, less likely to be married, and more likely to have comorbidities related to substance use disorders compared with patients who continued to receive HLOT. Incidence of discontinuation among those with HLOT increased in more than half (64%) of the 129 VHA medical centers. CONCLUSION: Prevalence of patients receiving HLOT in the VHA decreased as the incidence of discontinuation increased. Further research is needed to understand the process by which patients are discontinued and to assess the relationship between discontinuation and health outcomes.

Opioid Prescribing and Opioid Risk Mitigation Strategies in the Veterans Health Administration.

INTRODUCTION: The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) has taken a multifaceted approach to addressing opioid safety and promoting system-wide opioid stewardship. AIM: To provide a comprehensive evaluation of current opioid prescribing practices and implementation of risk mitigation strategies in VHA. SETTING: VHA is the largest integrated health care system in the United States. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION: VHA prescribing data in conjunction with implementation of opioid risk mitigation strategies are routinely tracked and reviewed by VHA's Pharmacy Benefits Management Services (including Academic Detailing Service) and the Pain Management Program Office. Additional data are derived from the Partnered Evidence-Based Policy Resource Center (PEPReC) and from a 2019 survey of interdisciplinary pain management teams at VHA facilities. Prescribing data are reported quarterly until first quarter fiscal year 2020 (Q1FY2020), ending December 31, 2019. PROGRAM EVALUATION: VHA opioid dispensing peaked in 2012 with 679,376 Veterans receiving an opioid prescription, and when including tramadol, in 2013 with 869,956 Veterans. Since 2012, the number of Veterans dispensed an opioid decreased 56% and co-prescribed opioid/benzodiazepine decreased 83%. Veterans with high-dose opioids (≥ 100 mg morphine equivalent daily dose) decreased 77%. In Q1FY2020, among Veterans on long-term opioid therapy (LTOT), 91.1% had written informed consent, 90.8% had a urine drug screen, and 89.0% had a prescription drug monitoring program query. Naloxone was issued to 217,469 Veterans and resulted in > 1,000 documented overdose reversals. In 2019, interdisciplinary pain management teams were fully designated at 68%, partially designated at 28%, and not available at 4% of 140 VA parent facilities. Fifty percent of Veterans on opioids at very high risk for overdose/suicide received interdisciplinary team reviews. IMPLICATIONS: VHA clinicians have greatly reduced their volume of opioid prescribing for pain management and expanded implementation of opioid risk mitigation strategies. IMPACTS: VHA's integrated health care system provides a model for opioid stewardship and interdisciplinary pain care.

Comparison of naloxone prescribing patterns due to educational outreach conducted by full-time and part-time academic detailers at the U.S. Veterans Health Administration.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the impact of full-time equivalent employee (FTEE) allocation to academic detailers on naloxone prescribing at the U.S. Veterans Health Administration (VA). DESIGN: Longitudinal nonequivalent control group posttest-only design using a random effects model. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Closed cohort of primary care providers exposed to academic detailing between September 1, 2016, and September 20, 2018, at VA. OUTCOME MEASURES: Previous analysis identified a cutoff of 0.40 FTEE was associated with a greater return on investment. We evaluated whether this level of FTEE allocation was associated with increases in naloxone prescribing rates and compared providers who had an interaction with an academic detailer allocated 0.4 FTEE or greater (high FTEE) to providers who interacted with an academic detailer allocated less than 0.4 FTEE (low FTEE). RESULTS: Among VA primary care providers who received academic detailing, 1770 (68%) had interactions with a high FTEE academic detailer. There were no differences in demographics between providers who interacted with high FTEE and low FTEE academic detailers except for the distribution of provider classes (P = 0.004) and geographic districts (P < 0.001). Providers who interacted with high FTEE academic detailers had a greater average monthly number of naloxone prescriptions prescribed compared with low FTEE academic detailers (0.60 vs. 0.53; P = 0.005). In the random effects model, there was a 65% greater increase in the average monthly number of naloxone prescriptions prescribed among providers who interacted with a high FTEE academic detailer compared with providers who interacted with low FTEE academic detailers (P = 0.027). We also observed a dose-dependent relationship between the number of naloxone prescribed and the amount of FTEE allocated. CONCLUSION: This observational study highlights the potential benefits (e.g., increased naloxone prescribing) of academic detailers having more FTEE allocated. Hence, implementation of academic detailing needs to consider the amount of dedicated time for academic detailers, given competing VA priorities.

Overdose Risk Associated with Opioid Use upon Hospital Discharge in Veterans Health Administration Surgical Patients.

OBJECTIVE: To determine an association between opioid use upon hospital discharge (ongoing and newly started) in surgical patients and risks of opioid overdose and delirium for the first year. DESIGN: Retrospective, cohort study. SETTING: Population-level study of Veterans Health Administration patients. SUBJECTS: All Veterans Health Administration patients (N = 64,391) who underwent surgery in 2011, discharged after one or more days, and without a diagnosis of opioid overdose or delirium from 90 days before admission through 30 days postdischarge (to account for additional opioid dosing in the context of chronic use). METHODS: Patients' opioid use was categorized as 1) no opioids, 2) tramadol only, 3) short-acting only, 4) long-acting only, 5) short- and long-acting. We calculated unadjusted incidence rates and the incidence rate ratio (IRR) for opioid overdose and drug delirium for two time intervals: postdischarge days 0-30 and days 31-365. We then modeled outcomes of opioid overdose and delirium for postdischarge days 31-365 using a multivariable extended Cox regression model. Sensitivity analysis examined risk factors for overdose for postdischarge days 0-30. RESULTS: Incidence of overdose was 11-fold greater from postdischarge days 0-30 than days 31-365: 26.3 events/person-year (N = 68) vs 2.4 events/person-year (N = 476; IRR = 10.80, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 8.37-13.92). Higher-intensity opioid use was associated with increasing risk of overdose for the year after surgery, with the highest risk for the short- and long-acting group (hazard ratio = 4.84, 95% CI = 3.28-7.14). Delirium (IRR = 10.66, 95% CI = 7.96-14.29) was also associated with higher opioid intensity. CONCLUSIONS: Surgical patients should be treated with the lowest effective intensity of opioids and be monitored to prevent opioid-related adverse events.

Randomized program evaluation of the Veterans Health Administration Stratification Tool for Opioid Risk Mitigation (STORM): A research and clinical operations partnership to examine effectiveness.

The United States is facing an opioid crisis in which overdose is the leading cause of injury death-misuse of opioids constitutes the vast majority of those deaths. In 2016 alone, over 42,000 people died from opioid overdose, an increase of 27% from the prior year. Deployment of the Stratification Tool for Opioid Risk Mitigation (STORM), a clinical decision support tool to improve opioid safety, is one response by the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) to the opioid crisis. STORM identifies VHA patients at very high risk of opioid-related adverse events and lists potential risk mitigation strategies. Deployment of STORM also helps VHA meet certain requirements of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016. In alignment with the VHA's learning health care system initiative, a multidisciplinary team designed a randomized evaluation of a policy approach to mandating case reviews of very-high-risk patients identified by STORM and the impacts of patient inclusion versus exclusion in mandated STORM case reviews using a stepped-wedge design. The STORM evaluation involves drafting the policy notice, shepherding it through the VHA approval process, and implementing the cluster randomized design. This mixed-methods evaluation includes (1) a qualitative assessment of medical center implementation strategies with the aim of understanding of how STORM is incorporated into practice, and (2) quantitative analyses of the relations between policy mandates and STORM inclusion on opioid-related adverse events. The findings from this synergistic research design will yield critical insights for VHA leadership to refine opioid prescribing-related policy and practice.

Applying and advancing best practices in opioid use disorder and addiction treatment: Introduction to the special issue on implementation science and quality improvement scholarship.

To help realize the promise of evidence-based practices to stem the opioid crisis, there is a glaring need for descriptions of how practices are effectively disseminated and implemented. Unfortunately, addiction journals do not often publish addiction implementation science and non-research descriptions of quality improvement projects. This is unfortunate as these projects are more representative of how research is translated into practice in the real-world and offer guidance and practical information to help speed implementation of evidence-based practices. To support translation of research into practice, primary, secondary, and tertiary intervention implementation science and quality improvement projects should be disseminated. We are excited to again partner with the Providers' Clinical Support System for Opioid Therapies in presenting implementation and quality improvement demonstration projects in this special issue: "Implementation and Quality Improvement: Applying and Advancing Best Practices in Opioid Use Disorder and Addiction Treatment."

Opioid overdose education and naloxone distribution: Development of the Veterans Health Administration's national program.

OBJECTIVES: To prevent opioid-related mortality, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) developed a national Opioid Overdose Education and Naloxone Distribution (OEND) program. SETTING: VHA's OEND program sought national implementation of OEND across all medical facilities (n = 142). PRACTICE DESCRIPTION: This paper describes VHA's efforts to facilitate nationwide health care system-based OEND implementation, including the critical roles of VHA's national pharmacy services and academic detailing services. PRACTICE INNOVATION: VHA is the first large health care system in the United States to implement OEND nationwide. Launching the national program required VHA to translate a primarily community-based public health approach to OEND into a health care system-based approach that distributed naloxone to patients with opioid use disorders as well as to patients prescribed opioid analgesics. Key innovations included developing steps to implement OEND, pharmacy developing standard naloxone rescue kits, adding those kits to the VHA National Formulary, centralizing kit distribution, developing clinical guidance for issuing naloxone kits, and supporting OEND as a focal campaign of academic detailing. Other innovations included the development of patient and provider education resources (e.g., brochures, videos, accredited training) and implementation and evaluation resources (e.g., technical assistance, clinical decision support tools). EVALUATION: Clinical decision support tools that leverage VHA national data are available to clinical staff with appropriate permissions. These tools allow staff and leaders to evaluate OEND implementation and provide actionable next steps to help them identify patients who could benefit from OEND. RESULTS: Through fiscal year 2016, VHA dispensed 45,178 naloxone prescriptions written by 5693 prescribers to 39,328 patients who were primarily prescribed opioids or had opioid use disorder. As of February 2, 2016, there were 172 spontaneously reported opioid overdose reversals with the use of VHA naloxone prescriptions. CONCLUSION: VHA has successfully translated community-based OEND into health care system-based OEND targeting 2 patient populations. There is a tremendous amount that can be learned from VHA's experience implementing this novel health care innovation nationwide.

Trends in naloxone prescriptions prescribed after implementation of a National Academic Detailing Service in the Veterans Health Administration: A preliminary analysis.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effects of the U.S. Veterans Health Administration (VA) National Academic Detailing Service alongside the Opioid Overdose Education and Naloxone Distribution (OEND) program on naloxone prescriptions prescribed from October 2014 to September 2016. METHODS: A retrospective, repeated measures cohort study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of a real-world application of academic detailing (AD) alongside OEND on providers' outpatient naloxone prescribing from October 2014 to September 2016. Outcome was the number of naloxone prescriptions prescribed per month per provider. During the study period, VA providers were aware of OEND, but may not have been exposed to academic detailing. Therefore, providers were categorized as exposed when the first OEND-specific academic detailing session was provided during the study period. Generalized estimating equations were used to estimate the association between exposure to academic detailing and monthly naloxone prescriptions prescribed while taking into account the correlation within each provider. Incident rate ratios with 95% CIs were reported. RESULTS: Seven hundred fifty (22.6%) of 3313 providers received at least 1 OEND-specific academic detailing visit. At 1 year, the average number of naloxone prescriptions per month was 3-times greater in AD-exposed providers compared with AD-unexposed providers (95% CI 2.0-5.3); and at 2 years, the average number of naloxone prescriptions was 7-times greater (95% CI 3.0-17.9). Moreover, the average difference in naloxone prescribing from baseline to 2 years was 7.1% greater in AD-exposed providers compared with AD-unexposed providers (95% CI 2.0%-12.5%). CONCLUSIONS: This preliminary analysis provides the first evidence that academic detailing influenced naloxone prescribing rates in a large, integrated health care system at 1 and 2 years. In addition, AD-exposed providers had a higher average difference in naloxone prescribing rate compared with AD-unexposed providers after 2 years of follow-up.

Time-to-Cessation of Postoperative Opioids: A Population-Level Analysis of the Veterans Affairs Health Care System.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to determine 1) the epidemiology of perioperative opioid use; and 2) the association between patterns of preoperative opioid use and time-to-cessation of postoperative opioids. DESIGN: Retrospective, cohort study. SETTING: National, population-level study of Veterans Healthcare Administration (VHA) electronic clinical data. SUBJECTS: All VHA patients (n = 64,391) who underwent surgery in 2011, discharged after stays of ≥1 day, and receiving ≥1 opioid prescription within 90 days of discharge. METHODS: Patients' preoperative opioid use were categorized as 1) no opioids, 2) tramadol only, 3) short-acting (SA) acute/intermittent (≤ 90 days fill), 4) SA chronic (> 90 days fill), or 5) any long-acting (LA). After defining cessation as 90 consecutive, opioid-free days, the authors calculated time-to-opioid-cessation (in days), from day 1 to day 365, after hospital discharge. The authors developed extended Cox regression models with a priori identified predictors. Sensitivity analyses used alternative cessation definitions (30 or 180 consecutive days). RESULTS: Almost 60% of the patients received preoperative opioids: tramadol (7.5%), SA acute/intermittent (24.1%), SA chronic (17.5%), and LA (5.2%). For patients opioid-free preoperatively, median time-to-cessation of opioids postoperatively was 15 days. The SA acute/intermittent cohort (HR =1.96; 95% CI =1.92-2.00) had greater risk for prolonged time-to-cessation than those opioid-free (reference), but lower risk than those taking tramadol only, SA chronic (HR = 9.09; 95% CI = 8.33-9.09), or LA opioids (HR = 9.09; 95% CI = 8.33-10.00). Diagnoses of chronic pain, substance-use, or affective disorders were weaker positive predictors. Sensitivity analyses maintained findings. CONCLUSION: Greater preoperative levels of opioid use were associated with progressively longer time-to-cessation postoperatively.

Patient perspectives on an opioid overdose education and naloxone distribution program in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

BACKGROUND: In an effort to prevent opioid overdose mortality among Veterans, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities began implementing opioid overdose education and naloxone distribution (OEND) in 2013 and a national program began in 2014. VA is the first national health care system to implement OEND. The goal of this study is to examine patient perceptions of OEND training and naloxone kits. METHODS: Four focus groups were conducted between December 2014 and February 2015 with 21 patients trained in OEND. Participants were recruited from a VA residential facility in California with a substance use disorder treatment program (mandatory OEND training) and a homeless program (optional OEND training). Data were analyzed using matrices and open and closed coding approaches to identify participants' perspectives on OEND training including benefits, concerns, differing opinions, and suggestions for improvement. RESULTS: Veterans thought OEND training was interesting, novel, and empowering, and that naloxone kits will save lives. Some veterans expressed concern about using syringes in the kits. A few patients who never used opioids were not interested in receiving kits. Veterans had differing opinions about legal and liability issues, whether naloxone kits might contribute to relapse, and whether and how to involve family in training. Some veterans expressed uncertainty about the effects of naloxone. Suggested improvements included active learning approaches, enhanced training materials, and increased advertisement. CONCLUSIONS: OEND training was generally well received among study participants, including those with no indication for a naloxone kit. Patients described a need for OEND and believed it could save lives. Patient feedback on OEND training benefits, concerns, opinions, and suggestions provides important insights to inform future OEND training programs both within VA and in other health care settings. Training is critical to maximizing the potential for OEND to save lives, and this study includes specific suggestions for improving the effectiveness and acceptability of training.

Association of Care Practices with Suicide Attempts in US Veterans Prescribed Opioid Medications for Chronic Pain Management.

IMPORTANCE: Patients receiving opioid therapy are at elevated risk of attempting suicide. Guidelines recommend practices to mitigate risk, but it is not known whether these are effective. OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to examine associations between the receipt of guideline-recommended care for opioid therapy and risk of suicide attempt. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This was a retrospective analysis of administrative data for all Veteran patients prescribed any short-acting opioids on a chronic basis or any long-acting opioids from the Veterans Health Administration during fiscal year 2010. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Multivariate, mixed-effects logistic regression analyses were conducted to define the associations between the risk of suicide attempt and receipt of guideline-recommended care at the individual level and rates of use of recommended care at the facility level, while accounting for patient risk factors. RESULTS: At the individual level, having a mood disorder was highly associated with suicide attempts (odds ratios [ORs] = 3.5, 3.9; 95% confidence intervals [CIs] = 3.3-3.9, 3.3-4.6 for chronic short-acting and long-acting groups, respectively). At the facility level, patients on opioid therapy within the facilities ordering more drug screens were associated with decreased risk of suicide attempt (ORs = 0.2, 0.3; CIs = 0.1-0.3, 0.2-0.6 for chronic short-acting and long-acting groups, respectively). In addition, patients on long-acting opioid therapy within the facilities providing more follow-up after new prescriptions were associated with decreased risk of suicide attempt (OR = 0.2, CI = 0.0-0.7), and patients on long-acting opioid therapy within the facilities having higher sedative co-prescription rates were associated with increased risk of suicide attempt (OR = 20.3, CI = 1.1-382.2). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Encouraging facilities to make more consistent use of drug screening, provide follow-up within 4 weeks for patients initiating new opioid prescriptions, and avoid sedative co-prescription in combination with long-acting opioids may help prevent suicide attempts. Some clinicians may selectively employ guideline-recommended practices with at-risk patients.

Sex differences in chronic pain management practices for patients receiving opioids from the Veterans Health Administration.

BACKGROUND: Women experience chronic pain and use pain-related health care at higher rates than men. It is not known whether the pain-related health care female veterans receive is consistent with clinical practice guideline recommendations or whether receipt of this care differs between men and women. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to identify whether sex differences in chronic pain management care exist for patients served by the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). DESIGN: Data on patient demographics, diagnostic criteria, and health care utilization were extracted from VHA administrative databases for fiscal year 2010 (FY10). PATIENTS: Patients in this study included all VHA patients (excluding metastatic cancer patients) who received more than 90 days of a short-acting opioid medication or a long-acting opioid medication prescription in FY10 study. MEASURES: Multilevel logistic regressions were conducted to identify sex differences in receipt of guideline-recommended chronic pain management. RESULTS: A total of 480,809 patients met inclusion criteria. Female patients were more likely to receive most measures of guideline-recommended care for chronic pain including mental health assessments, psychotherapy, rehabilitation therapy, and pharmacy reconciliation. However, women were more likely to receive concurrent sedative prescriptions, which is inconsistent with guideline recommendations. Most of the observed sex differences persisted after controlling for key demographic and diagnostic differences. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that female VHA patients are more likely to receive an array of pain management practices than male patients, including both contraindicated and recommended polypharmacy. Quality improvement efforts to address underutilization of mental health and rehabilitative services for pain by male patients and polypharmacy in female patients should be considered.