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Opioid Therapy: Follow-up Evaluation

All patients 18 and older prescribed opiates for longer than six weeks duration who had a follow-up evaluation conducted at least every three months during Opioid Therapy documented in the medical record.

Date Reviewed: November 19, 2017

Measure Info

MIPS 408 CMS 408
Measure Type
Process
Measure Steward
American Academy of Neurology
Clinical Topic Area
Pain Assessment and Management

Care Setting
Outpatient
Data Source
Registry

ACP does not support QPP measure 408: "Opioid Therapy Follow-Up and Evaluation. This is a “check the box measure.” Adherence to a follow-up evaluation program does not necessarily improve quality outcomes. A more appropriate measure may incentivize a standardized, methodological approach to evaluation that is likely to improve the opioid therapy management process and result in improved clinical outcomes. While implementation could prevent overuse of opioid therapy, there is insufficient evidence to support the 6 weeks and 3 months durations included in the denominator and numerator specifications. While the measure aligns with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations on prescribing opioids for chronic pain, we suggest the developers revise the specifications to include an evidence based-definition of chronic opioid therapy. Furthermore, it is unclear whether clinicians who prescribe therapy for less than 3 months should require patient followup earlier than 3 months’ time. The measure would benefit from reliability and validity testing prior to implementation and inclusion in quality payment programs.