Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain Workgroup (Opioid Guideline Workgroup)

Workgroup Charge

The Opioid Guideline Workgroup will be charged with:

1. Reviewing the quality of the clinical and contextual evidence reviews.
2. Reviewing each of the recommendation statements and accompanying rationale
3. Considering for each recommendation:
   1. The quality of the evidence supporting the recommendation (the accuracy of the evidence quality rating; i.e., evidence “type”);
   2. The balance of benefits and risks associated with the recommendation (the degree to which the benefit of issuing the recommendation outweighs the harms);
   3. The values and preferences of providers and patients related to the recommendation (the degree to which there is variability or uncertainty in values and preferences);
   4. The cost feasibility of the recommendation (the degree to which implementation is feasible for health systems and patients financially); and
   5. The category designation of the recommendation (whether category A or category B is justified). Category A recommendations apply to all patients; Category B recommendations require individual decision making where different choices will be appropriate for different patients so that providers must help patients arrive at a decision consistent with patient values and preferences and specific clinical situations.
   6. Workgroup members will be provided with the Proposed 2016 Guideline for Prescribing for Opioids for Chronic Pain and other supporting materials to assist with items #1-3.
   7. Provide a summary of the workgroup’s observations associated with items #1-3 above of the Proposed 2016 Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain, including points of agreement and disagreement.

Report: “Observations Presented to the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control’s Board of Scientific Counselors” – Opioid Guideline Workgroup [PDF 429 KB]