EMR Guide for Complex Care: Opioids

Background

There is currently an opioid crisis in Alberta. In 2018, two Albertans died each day as a result of opioids, and this is impacting communities across the province.¹ As many as one in five Albertan’s over 25 are experiencing chronic pain.² Survey results indicated that one-third of patients, or another member of their household, had spoken to a physician within the past year about using an opioid to manage their pain.³ Opioids are powerful medications that require careful monitoring. Physicians and team members are part of the solution by engaging in conversations about opioid use, identifying patients at risk, optimizing patient care management and prescribing, supporting patients to initiate & maintain opioid agonist therapy and coordinating care with other parts of the system to support patient needs.

This EMR guide will provide recommendations about how to use the EMR to coordinate care management for this complex and vulnerable population. These actions are important steps on the journey to creating a patient medical home.

There are additional options to explore within the features and functionality of EMRs to accomplish the recommended steps outlined in this section of the guide.

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References

¹Alberta Health, Analytics and Performance Reporting Branch. Alberta opioid response surveillance report: 2018 Q4 [Internet]. Edmonton, AB: Alberta Government; 2019 Mar. Available from: https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/f4b74c38-88cb-41ed-aa6f-32db93c7c391/resource/0654bbdd-f26e-4add-9ffd-b7146fd25554/download/opioid-response-surveillance-report-2018-q4.pdf 

 ²Reitsma ML, Tranmer JE, Buchanan DM, VanDenKerkhof EG. The epidemiology of chronic pain in Canadian men and women between 1994 and 2007: Results from the longitudinal component of the National Population Health Survey. Pain Res Manag. 2012;17(3):166–72.

³Alberta Medical Association, ThinkHQ Public Affairs Inc. Exploratory research: Opioid incidence among Alberta patients [Internet]. Edmonton, AB: Alberta Patients; 2018 May. Available from: https://thinkhq.ca/albertapatients-ca-exploratory-research-prescription-opioid-use-among-alberta-patients/