This report considers issues related to acute and chronic pain management and substance use disorders (SUD). The guidance provided aims to achieve the application of the proper healthcare quality metrics across the U.S. healthcare system. Using the best metrics, in turn, seeks both to continue to reduce opioid deaths verifiably, to encourage the implementation of best practices of pain management, to decrease the incidence of other SUDs, and to decrease illegal drug use by those unable to obtain prescription pain medication.
News and Updates for Healthcare Professionals
Opioids and Opioid Use Disorder TEP Final Report
Neural Signature Identifies People Likely to Respond to Antidepressant Medication
Researchers have discovered a neural signature that predicts whether individuals with depression are likely to benefit from sertraline, a commonly prescribed antidepressant medication. The findings, published in Nature Biotechnology, suggest that new machine learning techniques can identify complex patterns in a person’s brain activity that correlate with meaningful clinical outcomes.
AHRQ Views Blog: New Guide to Help Primary Care Practices Manage Opioid Patients
A new guide to help primary care practices manage patients taking opioids for chronic pain is highlighted in a new post by AHRQ Director Gopal Khanna, M.B.A. The new Self-Service How-To Guide helps practices implement the AHRQ-funded Six Building Blocks, a structured, systems-based approach to treating patients who use long-term opioid therapy. Clinicians and staff, quality improvement personnel, practice coaches, and clinic administrators can use the new guide to implement the Six Building Blocks in a three-stage,15-month timeline. Developing tools and resources to reduce opioid overdoses and the prevalence of opioid use disorder is a priority for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and AHRQ.
Read the full blog postOpioid-Benzo Co-Prescribing Continues, Despite Risks One-third of office visits with benzodiazepine prescriptions involve overlapping opioids
The Public Health Road Map to Respond to the Growing Dementia Crisis
Patients with newly diagnosed musculoskeletal pain are prescribed opioids more often than recommended
NIH study shows treatment recommendations impacted by patient and physician factors.
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The Federal Government Supports Health Literacy Research!
Several health literacy research tools are developed from the funding and support of the federal government. Visit our website to see how the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Department of Education and others support health literacy research.
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PCORI Statement on Congressional Reauthorization of Funding
Drugs That Worsen Heart Failure Common in Hospitalized HF
Commonly prescribed medications that exacerbate heart failure are often continued after—or even started during—HF hospitalization, new research suggests.