AHRQ Advances Efforts To Battle Opioid Epidemic

Two new AHRQ initiatives signal the agency’s ongoing support for the Department of Health and Human Services 5-Point Strategy To Combat the Opioid Crisis:

A new document designed to help reduce inappropriate opioid use and abuse – A Stakeholder-Driven Action Plan for Improving Pain Management, Opioid Use, and Opioid Use Disorder Treatment Through Patient-Centered Clinical Decision Support – has been developed by the AHRQ-supported Patient-Centered Clinical Decision Support Learning Network. Released March 28, the report is part of AHRQ’s efforts to advance clinical decision support. It includes five detailed patient scenarios demonstrating ways that clinical decision support can lead to better outcomes.
Comments are being solicited until April 25 on the draft Treatment for Acute Pain: An Evidence Map. The resource will provide an overview of current guidelines and systematic reviews on pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic treatments for acute pain, including opioids. It will cover treatment for acute pain conditions including postoperative pain, dental pain, neck pain, back pain, renal colic, acute migraine and sickle cell crisis.