
Reducing Opioid Use for Pain Management
Data collection and use to prevent opioid dependence.
Project Overview
Updated March 31, 2023
The Problem
Opioids are recognized as an effective tool for managing pain.
However, they can also be addictive, resulting in widespread abuse in recent years and culminating in national health crises in Canada and the U.S.
In addition, some patients don’t respond well to opioids after surgery. Adverse symptoms include lethargy, slow and laboured breathing, as well as delirium. In some cases, pain can worsen when patients are prescribed higher dosages.
At least 6 per cent of surgery patients who are prescribed opioids become persistent opioid users. Unfortunately, physicians do not have the information they need to minimize this risk at the time of prescribing medication, nor do they receive follow-up data to reduce the rates of addiction.
How We Are Solving It
The Result
This project successfully demonstrated technical feasibility and potential benefits of combining the ability to filter patients based on profiles and medical history with integration to patient surgery dates. This enabled automated onboarding of a selective high-risk cohort of patients to support provider monitoring throughout their surgery and during at-home recovery using tailored sets of post-surgical check-ins. The solution has potential scalability across several high-risk conditions e.g. postpartum depression, frail and elderly.