Survey Results Show Few Doctors Are Very Confident Managing Patients on Opioids

BOSTON, June 2, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Only a quarter of physicians who prescribe opioids say they are very confident managing the patients they prescribe them to, according to new survey results released by the Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and myCME, Haymarket Medical Education's global medical education website.

Daniel Alford, M.D., director of BUSM's Safe and Competent Opioid Prescribing Education (SCOPE of Pain) program, said, "This indicates a critical need for provider education addressing this issue. It is important our medical community is given the training it needs to confidently manage chronic pain while significantly reducing prescription opioid misuse, overdose and diversion."

The majority of the physicians surveyed agree. More than 90 percent say being knowledgeable about opioid therapy is an important issue.

Many have also taken proactive steps to improve their opioid prescribing practices. Sixty-five percent have implemented systems to support the safe initiation, monitoring and discontinuing of chronic opioid therapy.

Of those that have not implemented such systems, more than 60 percent said it was not a priority given limited time. Alford said, "It's troubling that so many physicians say implementing safe opioid prescribing systems is not a priority, even though this is an acute issue. We've created a situation where some physicians are comfortable not doing anything about it. That's why education is so critical."

Creating better awareness of online training opportunities is part of the solution. More than 46 percent of physicians who completed continuing education on safe opioid prescribing completed it online. "Accessibility is something clinicians value," Alford said. "That's why BUSM and others have created training programs online so opioid education is available whenever and wherever they are."

Full survey results are available in the white paper "Provider Perceptions on Opioid Therapy
for Chronic Pain." The white paper is being released in conjunction with a free Trainer's Toolkit for safe opioid prescribing (available online at www.scopeofpain.com/toolkit)  that BUSM has developed to provide residency program directors, chief medical officers and other physician-leaders several options to effectively and efficiently train their faculty/staff on safe opioid prescribing, specifically around communication with patients.

All physicians that were queried are members of myCME. The 804 respondents represent various specialties, including internal medicine, family medicine, emergency medicine, pediatrics, and OB/GYN.

Contact:

Jennifer Boes, Nancy Marshall Communications
[email protected], 207-623-4177

SOURCE Boston University School of Medicine

Related Links

http://www.bumc.bu.edu