Tools & Resources
to Support You

Opioid Materials For Providers

You can help reduce prescription opioid misuse and addiction in your practice. Our materials cover a range of topics from prevention and screening to non-opioid alternatives and lifesaving tools like naloxone. Search within the following key areas: Identification, Management, and Education.


Help Identify At-Risk Patients

The first step toward a solution is to identify your patients who may be at risk for misuse or addiction.
  • Opioid Risk Screener
    Opioid Risk Screener
    Use this 1-minute opioid risk assessment tool to assess the risk of opioid misuse and addiction among your patients.
    DOWNLOAD PDF
  • Micro-case Series on Opioid Use
    Micro-case Series on Opioid Use
    This micro-case podcast series details challenges commonly faced by clinicians and delivers clinical pearls in 4 minutes or less.
    LISTEN HERE

Help Manage Patients

It’s crucial to tailor your approach to each of your identified at-risk patients and build a safe treatment plan.
  • Prescription Opioid Patient Discussion Guide
    Prescription Opioid Patient Discussion Guide
    Get tips and suggestions for answering your patients' tough questions.
    Download PDF
  • Patient Agreement Forms
    Patient Agreement Forms
    Sample forms to use when engaging patients in conversations about their responsibilities while taking prescription opioids.
    Download PDF
  • CDC Prescribing Guideline
    CDC Prescribing Guideline
    Read the CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain.
    VISIT SITE
  • Non-Opioid Alternatives for Pain
    Non-Opioid Alternatives for Pain
    For patients in recovery or for those at risk of misuse and addiction, there are many effective and non-addictive options for pain management.
    DOWNLOAD PDF
  • Substance Use Treatment Locator
    Substance Use Treatment Locator
    Find treatment for patients with substance use disorders.
    VISIT SITE
  • Naloxone Recommendations
    Naloxone Recommendations
    To reduce the risk of death from opioid overdose, the FDA has released new guidance for opioid reversal treatment.
    VISIT SITE

Expand Your Education

As many patients’ first point of contact, use these materials, including Continuing Medical Education (CME), as a guide to evaluate risks and benefits of opioid treatment.
  • Evaluate Risks and Benefits of Opioid Therapies
    Evaluate Risks and Benefits of Opioid Therapies
    Learn more about treating patients in pain, managing patients on opioid analgesics, and how to educate patients and caregivers.
    VISIT SITE
  • CME for ER/LA Opioids
    CME for ER/LA Opioids
    Access REMS-compliance CME courses specific to prescribing ER/LA opioid analgesics.
    VISIT SITE
  • REMS (Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy)
    REMS (Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy)
    Review REMS per drug product via the searchable FDA database.
    VISIT SITE
  • Help Your Patients Manage Pain Safely and Effectively
    Help Your Patients Manage Pain Safely and Effectively
    Access free CME from Boston University to help manage patients with chronic pain who have been prescribed opioid analgesics.
    VISIT SITE

Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP)
Check recent prescribing data for your patients to identify potential risk of opioid misuse and addiction.

*Funding for this initiative was made possible (in part) by grant no. 1H79TI085588 from SAMHSA. It was originally funded by the FDA of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of financial assistance award U18FD004593. The views expressed on this website do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the HHS; nor does mention of trade names, commercial practices, or organizations imply endorsement by the FDA/HHS or the U.S. Government.

References
  1. Provisional Drug Overdose Death Counts. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/drug-overdose-data.htm Drug Overdose Deaths in the United States, 1999–2020. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db428.htm
  2. Vowles KE, McEntee ML, Julnes PS, Frohe T, Ney JP, van der Goes DN. Rates of opioid misuse, abuse, and addiction in chronic pain: a systematic review and data synthesis. Pain. 2015;156(4):569-576.
  3. Guideline Recommendations and Guiding Principles. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. https://www.cdc.gov/overdose-prevention/hcp/clinical-guidance/recommendations-and-principles.html
  4. Even the new link for this one didn’t work anymore, so same page but new link: Prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. https://www.cdc.gov/overdose-prevention/hcp/clinical-guidance/prescription-drug-monitoring-programs.html
  5. PDMP policies and practices. Prescription Drug Monitoring Program Training and Technical Assistance Center website. Accessed August 6, 2021. https://www.pdmpassist.org/Policies
  6. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Key substance use and mental health indicators in the United States: Results from the 2022 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. https://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/reports/rpt42731/2022-nsduh-nnr.pdf
  7. Jones CM. Heroin use and heroin use risk behaviors among nonmedical users of prescription opioid pain relievers—United States, 2002-2004 and 2008-2010. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2013;132(1-2):95-100.
  8. Opioid Overdose Death Rates and All Drug Overdose Death Rates per 100,000 Population (Age-Adjusted). KFF. https://www.kff.org/other/state-indicator/opioid-overdose-death-rates/?activeTab=graph&currentTimeframe=0&startTimeframe=4&selectedDistributions=opioid-overdose-death-rate-age-adjusted&selectedRows=%7B%22states%22:%7B%22all%22:%7B%7D%7D,%22wrapups%22:%7B%22united-states%22:%7B%7D%7D%7D&sortModel=%7B%22colId%22:%22Location%22,%22sort%22:%22asc%22%7D
  9. Opioid Dispensing Rate Maps. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.  https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/rxrate-maps/opioid.html