title: Using health information technology to improve adherence to opioid prescribing guidelines in primary care.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the impact of a clinical dashboard for opioid analgesic management on opioid prescribing and adherence to opioid practice guidelines in primary care.
  
  
  METHODS
  A pre/postimplementation evaluation using electronic health record (EHR) data from patients receiving chronic opioid therapy (COT) between April 1, 2011 and March 31, 2013. Measures include annual proportions of COT patients who received urine drug testing, signed an opioid treatment agreement, had a documented assessment of pain-related functional status, and had at least 1 visit with a behavioral health provider.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Adherence to several opioid prescribing guidelines improved in the postimplementation year compared with the preimplementation year: (1) the proportions of COT patients with a signed opioid treatment agreement and urine drug testing increased from 49% to 63% and 66% to 86%, respectively. The proportion of COT patients with a documented assessment of functional status increased from 33% to 46% and those with a behavioral health visit increased from 24% to 28%. However, there was a small decline in the proportion of patients prescribed COT from 3.4% to 3.1%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Implementation of an opioid dashboard led to increased adherence to certain opioid practice guidelines and a decline in COT. This may be attributable to more efficient team-based pain management facilitated by the dashboard and increased transparency of opioid prescription practices. Health Information Technology solutions such as clinical dashboards can increase adherence to practice guidelines.
authors.affiliation: Community Health Center Inc., Weitzman Institute, Middletown, CT.
authors.forename: Daren
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.forename: Ianita
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Zlateva
authors.forename: Khushbu
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Khatri
authors.forename: Nicholas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ciaburri
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D057286:Electronic Health Records; D005260:Female; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008490:Medical Informatics / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009293:Opioid-Related Disorders / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000652:urine; D059408:Pain Management / Q000379:methods; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000379:methods*; D015813:Substance Abuse Detection / Q000379:methods; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000701:Analgesics, Opioid