2015 APHA Annual Meeting & Expo

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Recorded Annual Meeting Presentations (RAMP) are now available for purchase.
Only $90 for presenters, $140 for registered attendees and $200 for non-attendees.

Online Program

334009
Evaluating the impact of a health information technology clinical dashboard tool for opioid management in primary care


Monday, November 2, 2015 : 2:30 p.m. - 2:50 p.m.

Daren Anderson, MD, Weitzman Institute, Community Health Center, Inc., Middletown, CT
Ianita Zlateva, MPH, Weitzman Institute, Community Health Center, Inc., Middletown, CT
Khushbu Khatri, BS, Weitzman Institute, Community Health Center, Inc., Middletown, CT
Nicholas Ciaburri, BS, Business Intelligence, Community Health Center, Inc., Middletown, CT
Audio (mp3) recording Recorded Presentation (mp4)
Background: Primary care providers have limited resources to monitor and care for patients receiving chronic opioid therapy (COT) and face time constraints that limit the delivery of comprehensive opioid management, especially in federally qualified and community health centers. Health Information Technology (HIT) can help improve adherence to treatment guidelines such as the use of urine drug testing (UDT), opioid treatment agreements (OTA), and reassessment of pain severity and functional status.

Objective: Evaluate the impact of a clinical dashboard for opioid management on prescribing and adherence to practice guidelines at a multi-site federally qualified health center.

Methods: Pre/post implementation evaluation using electronic health record data from patients receiving COT between April 2011 and March 2013. Measures include annual proportions of patients receiving COT who received UDT, signed an OTA, had an assessment of pain-related functional status, and had at least one visit with a behavioral health (BH) provider. A survey was administered to clinical staff users seeking feedback on the use of and satisfaction with the dashboard after implementation.

Results: The proportions of COT patients with a signed OTA and UDT increased to 63% and 86%, respectively. The proportions of COT patients with documented assessments of functional status and BH visits also increased. During the study period, the proportion of patients prescribed COT decreased from 3.4% to 3.1%. Eighty-five percent of survey responders reported that the dashboard helped them to identify patients on chronic opioids, as well as identify gaps in services for patients.

Conclusions: Implementation of an opioid dashboard led to increased adherence to certain practice guidelines and a decline in COT. This may be attributable to more efficient team-based pain management facilitated by the dashboard and increased transparency of opioid prescription practices. HIT solutions such as clinical dashboards can increase adherence to practice guidelines.

Learning Areas:

Chronic disease management and prevention

Learning Objectives:
Describe how an operable population-based clinical dashboard was developed and used to promote adherence to opioid prescription guidelines.

Keyword(s): Chronic Disease Management and Care, Community Health Centers

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have experience with evaluating the impact of health information technology clinical dashboard tools, and specifically for opioid management in primary care.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 3362.0: Health IT Applications and Registries Part II: Tools for Managing Chronic Conditions and Infectious Disease