The goal of the study is to reduce the amount of opioid analgesia prescribed after urologic surgery in the Department of Urology at Johns Hopkins. The initiative focuses on patients undergoing surgery for prostate cancer with radical prostatectomy including patients enrolled in IRB00123618/NCT03006562. The pre-intervention arm will consist of patients enrolled August 2017 to January 2018. The intervention arm will consist of patient enrolled January 2018 to completion of the study.
The intervention consists of a information discharge sheet, a standardized prescribing guideline at discharge, and nurses providing improved education for patients at discharge about appropriate use of opioid medication, routes for disposal, and potential side effects. Data on prescriptions written (amount and type of mediation) and use of opioid and other pain medication after surgery will be compared before and after the quality improvement initiative is started. Outcomes are assessed via 30-day phone call follow-up with data on perioperative outcomes, postoperative medication use, and symptoms already assessed in IRB00123618/NCT03006562. At the completion of the pre-intervention arm, providers in the urology department are informed about the average and distribution of usage of post-discharge opioids. Education and standardized prescribing (allowing for provider judgment) may help reduce/personalize the amount of opioids prescribed at discharge to reduce wasted medication entering circulation. The initiative may then be expanded to encompass all surgeries in the department to reduce opioid prescribing and use for routine clinical care.
