Rockville, MD, Nov. 20, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In response to the opioid epidemic, federal, state, and local governments, and public and private payers have issued a wide variety of rules and guidance for prevention, treatment, prescribing practices and recovery. Healthcare systems across the country have pursued various initiatives as a result. It’s critical to understand the effect of the changes on the care of patients with chronic pain and on clinicians’ beliefs, attitudes and behaviors.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) awarded Abt Associates, with AMGA as a partner, a $2.05M contract to conduct a rigorous evaluation of practice guidelines and policies for chronic pain management, opioid prescribing and medication-assisted treatment (MAT). The three-year evaluation, called Understanding Chronic Pain Management Including Opioid Prescribing in the Context of Clinical Practice Guidelines and Policies, will analyze how practices and policies affect pain-management practices, clinician-patient communication and patient outcomes.
This project expands Abt’s collaborative partnership with research leadership at CDC’s reorganized Division of Overdose Prevention (DOP), which leads CDC’s efforts to address the opioid overdose epidemic and prevent opioid overdoses and related harms. Abt has assisted CDC with a number of projects supporting the implementation and use of the CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain (CDC Prescribing Guideline). Over the last several years, Abt has been working on projects to encourage uptake and use of the CDC Prescribing Guideline through implementation guidance, quality improvement measures, clinical decision support and support of an Opioid Quality Improvement Collaborative of two cohorts of healthcare systems.
“Abt’s research will help answer questions critical to the field about the effect of various opioid prescribing policies and clinical guidelines,” says Sarah Shoemaker-Hunt, PhD, PharmD., the project director. “We will explore not only the effects on clinical practice and outcomes, but also the benefits and unintended consequences for patients and clinicians, alike.”
Learn more about Abt’s work in opioids misuse and prevention.
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About Abt Associates
Abt Associates is an engine for social impact, dedicated to moving people from vulnerability to security. Harnessing the power of data and our experts’ insights, we provide research, consulting and technical services globally in the areas of health, environmental and social policy, technology and international development. http://www.abtassociates.com