Pain management-related assessment and communication across the care continuum: Consensus of the opioid task force of the island peer review organization pain management coalition

Prescription opioid analgesics contribute to serious, preventable adverse drug events (ADEs) and despite efforts ranging from regulatory changes to quality improvement initiatives, national studies indicate that opioid-related emergency department visits and hospitalizations are increasing amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Effective pain management is challenging during care transitions, and system imperfections make patients vulnerable to ADEs as they leave one care setting and move to another. Therefore, the Island Peer Review Organization (IPRO) pain management coalition convened a task force to develop resources to guide improvements in opioid-related communication during patient care transitions. Create a consensus list of requisite communication elements (RCEs) that should accompany all patients prescribed opioids as they undergo care transitions. An interprofessional task force of pain management experts was convened and completed a blinded, iterative Delphi process. After four Delphi rounds, the panel reached consensus on a pain management discharge communication (PMDC) List of 24 RCEs across the domains of opioid dosing and pain management (nine elements), factors associated with adverse drug events (nine elements), and patient education and caregiver support (six elements). During transitions of care providers need detailed information on opioid dosing, pain characteristics, risk factors for adverse events, and patient/caregiver capacity to adequately manage symptoms while avoiding potentially fatal ADEs. The PMDC list may guide the development of new clinical tools, quality measures, accreditation standards, and checklists for pharmacists involved in the delivery of opioid stewardship during a care transition. Additional work is needed to design comprehensive, interprofessional opioid stewardship programs to ensure that the requisite communication elements are consistently available at the time of a care transition.