The misuse and abuse of prescription painkillers continued to be a major public health challenge in 2014. Misuse and abuse of opiate prescription painkillers continued to kill more than car crashes in 2014….but we also completed some key interventions this year.
In 2014 we released new Arizona Opioid Prescribing Guidelines for Arizona clinicians. They’re a voluntary, consensus set of principles and best practices for prescribing opioids. The Guidelines were built using the expertise of practitioners from across Arizona including representatives from professional associations, health plans, academic institutions, federal healthcare providers, and many others.
The new guidelines balance appropriate treatment of pain with approaches to more safely prescribe opioids. They’re geared for clinicians in primary care and specialty outpatient settings who treat acute pain and/or manage chronic pain but not end of life care or pain management due to malignancy. The new guidelines complement other statewide best practices for Emergency Department Controlled Substance Prescribing and Dispensing Controlled Substances.
The guidelines are posted on the ADHS clinicians’ website. There, you’ll find the complete, comprehensive guidance document and a 1-page summary for each of the Guidelines for acute and chronic pain. Please encourage your Stakeholders to link their websites with these important new documents.
