Post-Operative Order Set Decreases Opioid Prescriptions and Increases Efficiency

Abstract

Background Opioid addiction remains a public health crisis. We aimed to create an electronic medical record (EMR) based protocol to decrease post-operative prescribing of opioid medications and streamline the ordering process while maintaining adequate pain control. Methods An order set was created to minimize opioid prescriptions. The post-operative prescribing practices for minor urologic procedures (MUOs) over 6-week periods at three time points were compared: one period before and two periods after implementation of the order set. Results 72 MUOs were performed in the pre-implementation, 52 in post-implementation, and 60 in the long-term period. Opioid medications were prescribed for 66 patients (91.7%) pre-implementation, 23 patients (44.2%) post-implementation, and 45 patients (75.0%) at the long-term time point ( P < .0001 and P = .015 respectively). The mean morphine milligram equivalent (MME) prescribed was 81.52 units before implementation, 38.74 units after, and 24.21 units at the long-term time point ( P = .0002 and P < .0001 respectively). Discussion The integration of a post-operative prescribing order set into our EMR substantially decreased opioid prescribing after MUO while streamlining the ordering process to improve efficiency.