About the Office of Opioid Safety
The University of Kentucky Office of Opioid Safety consists of a multidisciplinary team of healthcare providers working to reduce unnecessary opioid use and raise awareness within UK HealthCare and throughout Kentucky.
As the first such office in the Commonwealth, we aim to reduce inappropriate prescription opioid use through educational sessions for clinicians regarding safe opioid use and communication, resources for patients to aid with pain management, and real-time data analysis.
Since the inception of the office in 2017, UK HealthCare has:
- Reduced inpatient opioid use equivalent to more than 250,000 oxycodone 5mg tablets per year.
- Reduced high-risk prescriptions by over half.
- Improved overall pain ratings from hospitalized patients
- Decreased opioid prescriptions at hospital discharge by an average of 25 per week.
- Provided naloxone to more than 2,000 patients within the healthcare system.