Veterans are prescribed opioids at higher rates for chronic pain, mental health issues, and substance use disorders than the general United States population. This puts them at increased risk for opioid-related adverse events and opioid use disorder. Responding to concerns for opioid safety, Veterans Health Administration implemented several initiatives including the Opioid Safety Initiative and a mandated case review for all Veterans who are prescribed opioids, facilitated by the Stratification Tool for Opioid Risk Management (STORM). STORM is a web-based dashboard to help assess a Veteran’s risk of experiencing opioid-related adverse events, including death.
The Partnered Evidence-based Policy Resource Center (PEPReC) published a policy brief summarizing the results of their recent STORM evaluation. They found that, for high-risk Veterans, a mandated case review with STORM was associated with a decreased probability of mortality. They also describe the effectiveness of how STORM can be used as a risk mitigation intervention, suggesting the potential of predictive analytic tools to improve patient outcomes. Read the full brief here.
PEPReC, within Veterans Health Administration and funded in large part by the Quality Enhancement Research Initiative, is a team of health economists, health services and public health researchers, statistical programmers, and policy analysts who engage policymakers to improve Veterans’ lives through evidence-driven innovations using advanced quantitative methods.
