
Clinical Cases Podcast Series
This podcast series, (11 episodes) are case-based and recorded for self-paced listening. Dr. Stader and Dr. Duncan will discuss management of chronic opioid therapy via a real-life patient case, applying best practice opioid prescribing guidelines from the Compass Opioid Stewardship project. The topics discussed include introducing an opioid stewardship framework, building therapeutic alliance with the patient, reframing pain and introducing pain psychology, addressing medication risks, naloxone and overdose education, and tapering conversations. Key practices for tapering opioids and benzodiazepines are also addressed, along with appropriate risk management strategies
Target Audience
Primary care practice clinicians, internal medicine clinicians, chronic pain management providers
Learning Objectives
- Identify when it is appropriate to continue chronic opioid therapy for a patient vs. taper or rotation to a safer agent
- Discuss how to build therapeutic alliance with a patient receiving chronic opioid therapy
- Recall nonpharmacologic and nonopioid alternatives for the treatment of pain and ongoing pain management
- Select the safest agent, dosage, and duration for a patient identified as benefiting from opioid therapy
- Recognize and manage the risks of chronic opioid therapy and other controlled substances
- Apply harm reduction best practices including overdose education and naloxone
- Recommend appropriate tapering strategies for patients co-prescribed opioids and benzodiazepines
Dr. Don Stader, MD, FACEP
Don Stader, MD, FACEP, is an emergency physician, opioid expert, film producer and innovator. He works at Swedish Medical Center in Englewood, CO, where he serves as the section chair of emergency medicine and associate ED medical director. Stader holds a medical degree with honors from Baylor College of Medicine and attended emergency medicine residency at Carolinas Medical Center.
He is the Past President of the Colorado chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians (COACEP) and former President of the Emergency Medicine Resident’s Association (EMRA). He is also founder and past chair of Colorado ACEP’s Opioid Task Force, Editor-in-Chief of COACEP’s 2017 Opioid Prescribing and Treatment Guidelines and the leader of CO’s CURE, an effort to create multidisciplinary opioid prescribing and treatment guidelines for the state of Colorado.
Stader is the Senior Pain Management and Opioid Policy Physician Adviser for the Colorado Hospital Association and serves on multiple national and
local committees addressing the opioid epidemic in Colorado and across the nation. He is the founder and chair emeritus of the nonprofit, The Emergency Medical Minute, which provides free online emergency medical education via podcasts and video.
Rachael Duncan, PharmD BCPS BCCCP
Rachael is a senior consultant for Stader Opioid Consultants based in Colorado. She has spent the past six years focused on policy, advocacy, and educational work surrounding opioid stewardship and treatment at both the state and national level.
She practices as an emergency medicine and critical care clinical pharmacist at Swedish Medical Center in Englewood, Colorado. In addition, she is the 340B drug program supervisor for Heart of the Rockies Regional Medical Center in Salida, Colorado.
Rachael graduated with her doctor of pharmacy degree from Ohio Northern University in 2011, then completed a PGY1 and PGY2 pharmacy critical care residency at Duke University Hospital in Durham, North Carolina.
Accreditation: This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of HCA Healthcare Continental Division and Iowa Healthcare Collaborative. HCA Healthcare Continental Division is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
Credit Designation: HCA Healthcare Continental Division designates this activity for a maximum of 3.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CreditTM. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity. This includes the completion of all 11 mini-podcast episodes (each episode approximately 15 minutes in length) partial credit will not be awarded.
The American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Board, The American Nurses Credentialing Center and The American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA) accept AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ issued by organizations accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) toward recertification requirements. *We suggest that learners check with their state licensing board to ensure they accept reciprocity with AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ for re-licensure.
Commercial Support: This Activity was developed without support from any ineligible company.*The ACCME defines ineligible companies as those whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients. Note: The ACCME does not consider providers of clinical service directly to patients to be commercial interests – unless the provider of clinical services is owned, or controlled by, and ACCME defined ineligible company.
Disclosure: HCA Healthcare Continental Division is committed to providing CME that is balanced, objective, and evidenced-based. In accordance with the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education Standards for Integrity and Independence all parties involved in content development are required to disclose all conflicts of interest with ACCME defined ineligible companies. The HCA Healthcare Continental Division has identified, reviewed, and mitigated all conflicts of interest that speakers, authors, course directors, planners, peer reviewers, or relevant staff disclose prior to the delivery of any educational activity. The CME planning committee who are in a position to control the content of this CME Activity, have no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies to disclose. Don Stader, MD, FAAEP discloses he is a consultant for OPISAFE/RX Assurance. Rachael Duncan PharmD has no conflicts of interest, financial or otherwise, to disclose.
Available Credit
- 3.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™