Strategies for Promoting the Safe Use and Appropriate Prescribing of Prescription Opioids

The current opioid epidemic remains a major public health crisis. In response to growing rates of opioid misuse, addiction, and overdose, stakeholders across the U.S. healthcare system are working to implement strategies designed to ensure that opioids are safely and appropriately prescribed. As policymakers, health systems, and insurers move quickly to adopt prescribing guidelines and other interventions, assessing the impact of these strategies on opioid use, patient health outcomes, and public health is critical to implementing these strategies effectively.

This public workshop brings together top experts and speakers to examine the landscape of strategies and tools being used to support safe opioid prescribing, how data and health IT can advance these efforts, and how stakeholders are addressing barriers to implementation and potential unintended consequences. Topics will include how we define and measure success and how we support health systems and payers in finding evidence for what really works.

Workshop sessions will focus on establishing guidelines and defining success for safe and appropriate prescribing, improving prescriber decision-making tools, and strategies used by health systems and payers to managing opioid access and improve patient care.