No Pain, No Gain: Updates in Opioid Prescribing and Non-Opioid Pain Management

NOTE: This session is part of the Live Intensive Studies and Clinical Sessions packages. All attendees may attend these thought-provoking and highly educational sessions. However, if you are board certified, you must purchase the package(s) for your specialty to receive the recertification assessment and claim the recertification credit.

While pharmacists are generally comfortable with some simpler tasks such as converting to morphine equivalents and between opioid therapies, there continues to be a general lack of appreciation for the risks with short courses of opioid therapy in putting patients at risk for long-term use. This session will focus on determining whether to initiate opioids for pain, selecting opioids and determining opioid dosages, deciding the duration of initial opioid prescription and conducting follow-up, and assessing the risk and addressing potential harms of opioid use. Updated guidance on pain management with opioids is highlighted, and strategies to optimize pain management for patients currently on medication-assisted treatment and those with a history of substance abuse are explored.

This activity is approved for Board Certified Pharmacotherapy Specialist (BCPS) recertification credit.