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The increased prevalence of opioid use in society has led to an increase in surgical patients with a history of such use. Patients who use or are addicted to opioids have different tolerances and responses to anesthesia than non-opioid users, and will require different care than non-users both pre- and post-operatively. The means to identify this population prior to a surgical procedure is needed as a way to organize, plan and manage patient care during the perioperative period. An Opioid Risk Assessment Tool (ORAT) was used as a way to streamline the process of identifying these patients. This paper addresses the development, implementation and execution of this quality improvement project, along with the screening results from a population of 512 pre-surgical patients. As a result, the ORAT was installed as part of the computer screening tools in the Pre-Surgical Testing (PST) department at a leading academic cancer hospital.

The increased prevalence of opioid use in society has led to an increase in surgical patients with a history of such use. Patients who use or are addicted to opioids have different tolerances and responses to anesthesia than non-opioid users, and will require different care than non-users both pre- and post-operatively. The means to identify this population prior to a surgical procedure is needed as a way to organize, plan and manage patient care during the perioperative period. An Opioid Risk Assessment Tool (ORAT) was used as a way to streamline the process of identifying these patients. This paper addresses the development, implementation and execution of this quality improvement project, along with the screening results from a population of 512 pre-surgical patients. As a result, the ORAT was installed as part of the computer screening tools in the Pre-Surgical Testing (PST) department at a leading academic cancer hospital.