Documenting and improving opioid treatment: the Prescription Opioid Documentation and Surveillance (PODS) System.
OBJECTIVE
To demonstrate that a computer-assisted survey instrument offers an efficient means of patient evaluation when initiating opioid therapy. Design. We report on our experience with the Prescription Opioid Documentation and Surveillance (PODS) System, a medical informatics tool that uses validated questionnaires to collect comprehensive clinical and behavioral information from patients with chronic pain.


METHODS
Over a 39-month period, 1,400 patients entered data into PODS using a computer touch screen in a Veterans Administration Pain Clinic.


METHODS
Indices of pain intensity, function, mental health status, addiction history, and the potential for prescription opioid abuse were formatted for immediate inclusion into the medical record.


RESULTS
The PODS system offers physicians a tool for systematic evaluation prior to prescribing opioids The system generates an opioid agreement between the patient and physician, and provides medicolegal documentation of the patient's condition.


CONCLUSIONS
PODS should improve patient care, refine pain control, and reduce the incidence of opioid abuse. Research to determine how PODS affects clinical care is underway. Specially, the effectiveness and efficiency of providing care utilizing PODS will be evaluated in future studies.
Wilsey
Barth L
BL
VA Northern California Health Care System, University of California, Davis, California, USA. blwilsey@ucdavis.edu
Fishman
Scott M
SM
Casamalhuapa
Carlos
C
Gupta
Asha
A
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001007:Anxiety / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003219:Confidentiality; D003863:Depression / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology; D004282:Documentation / Q000379:methods*; D011307:Drug Prescriptions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008487:Medical History Taking / Q000379:methods; D008490:Medical Informatics; D008875:Middle Aged; D009293:Opioid-Related Disorders / Q000517:prevention & control; D010146:Pain / Q000188:drug therapy*; D018710:Pain Clinics; D010147:Pain Measurement; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018570:Risk Assessment; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States; D014493:United States Department of Veterans Affairs; D055815:Young Adult
D000701:Analgesics, Opioid