Follow-Up Office Visits                

Addressing ongoing opioid use at the office visit:

Step 1
Assess Benefits
Step 2
Determine Patient Use
Step 3
Review Side Effects
Step 4
Review Psycho-social Issues
Step 5
Gather Objective Info
Step 6
Gather Info from Family
This should include review of the specific goal set out at the beginning.  It may include revision of this specific goal to something else (e.g. goal of using treatment to garden not relevant in snowy winter months)

Assessing Benefits of Opioid Therapy
Administer the PEG Pain Screening Tool

  • Take 24-hour inventory. (“Take me through a typical day of using your prescription.”)
  • Sometimes we find that patients use the opioid for something other than pain. Is that happening to you?  (e.g. “It helps me to go to sleep,” or “I take it when I am feeling down.”)
  • Sedation
  • Constipation
  • Observe for signs of intoxication, withdrawal
  • Prescription Monitoring Program
  • Urine drug screen data
  • Utilize pill counts

Information from reliable family members may be useful. Beware of family members who have incentive to provide misinformation for their own gain.

How to communicate next steps:

Please choose the options above that most accurately describe the current patient's situation.

Please choose the options above that most accurately describe the current patient's situation.
Consider saying:

Sources:

Prescribe To Prevent: Printable Resources For Patients