Opioid Stewardship Program
Program overview
The program supports clinicians and patients with evidence-based, trauma-informed education and guidance on the appropriate prescribing of opioids while promoting non-pharmacological and non-opioid analgesic therapies for managing pain and opioid use disorder. We work to ensure that opioid prescriptions are utilized appropriately throughout the healthcare system to promote health of the individual and community.
What is stewardship?
The backbone of any stewardship program follows the same principles: safe prescribing so that the right patient receives the right drug at the right dose for the right indication for the right length of time.
Opioid stewardship is everyone’s responsibility
- For healthcare providers, it means staying up to date with current evidence and appropriate prescribing practices and communicating this information to patients.
- For patients, it means questioning whether an opioid is the most appropriate treatment and practicing safe handling, storage, and disposal of opioids.
Opioid stewardship tool enhances safety for patients
To support patient safety, a new tool, Pharmaceutical Automated Reporting (PAR), collects data on all in-patient opioid prescriptions based on patient information and uses nine risk factors to help identify if patients are at risk for opioid-related complications. Patients are de-identified to preserve patient privacy.
In a 2023 pilot, the PAR tool found at least one opioid risk factor in 98.9 per cent of patients who were prescribed opioids, and multiple risk factors in 62.4 per cent. This data helped the Opioid Stewardship Program promote improved prescribing practices. The tool will also be used to track intervention impact, guide policy changes, help with decision-making, and assess quality of care.
“The PAR tool helps our clinical team to proactively identify patients at high risk for opioid-related issues,” said Dr. Casey Phillips, PharmD, Opioid Stewardship Program Pharmacist. “This helps with timely access to specialized care, improving the patient journey while in the hospital.”
Collaborative work is still ongoing to expand the use of the PAR tool across the province and improve patient safety. This project connects directly to the SHA Roadmap and is a strong example of how the SHA’s CARES values of compassion, accountability, respect, equity and safety. is the foundation of innovation in our health-care system.
