PRescribing INterventions for Chronic Pain Via the Electronic Health Record Study - Opioid-Naive Population

During the choice architecture nudge intervention, Primary Care Providers (PCPs) will be sent alerts in the Electronic Health Record (EHR) system when they initiate an opioid order for a patient who has not had an opioid prescription within the past six months. The alert provides guidance language about opioid prescribing and prompts the PCP to open the "SmartSet" to order non-opioid treatment alternatives. PCPs can choose to ignore this, but opening the SmartSet is the default option. When the SmartSet is opened, PCPs can choose to click on a variety of treatment order options, including both non-opioid pharmacological options and non-pharmacological options (e.g., referral to physical therapy or pain clinic).

During the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PMP) integration \& nudge intervention, Primary Care Providers (PCPs) will have integrated access to the PMP embedded within the EHR. All clinicians can already access the PMP to look up a patient's prior opioid prescriptions and prescription fills. However, this process involves signing in to the separate PMP website and can be complicated and time-consuming within typical clinical workflow. The integrated PMP tool makes it much easier and faster for a PCP to access the PMP information for a given patient.