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Ghafoor et al
A balanced scorecard approach will be useful in tracking
the regulatory components of opioid stewardship. Starting in
2018, TJC pain management standards for hospitals will
require performance data on pain assessment and management
including effectiveness of interventions. Elements of performance will include identification of areas that need change to
increase safety and quality for patients. Hospitals will be
required to monitor the use of opioids to determine whether
they are being used safely.16 Pharmacists will have a major
role in hospital opioid monitoring and performance improvement further supporting the need for a stewardship model.

Conclusion
The vision for opioid stewardship will ultimately be defined
through the actions taken to improve patient safety. Opioid
safety should be expanded to include stewardship of
approaches that reduce the risk of diversion, overdose, and
medication abuse. Pharmacists currently have a major role
monitoring opioid medication in hospitals and this component will increase with new regulatory requirements. Based
on the discussion in this article, opioid stewardship may be
defined as establishment of processes and monitoring systems to ensure the wise, judicious use of opioid agents to
avoid unintentional misuse or harm.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with
respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this
article.

Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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Hospital Pharmacy - July/August 2019

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