Opioid and benzodiazepine tapering: Best practices

Opioids and Benzodiazepine Tapering: Best Practices, provides a practical guide to safely and effectively tapering patients off opioids and benzodiazepines. This session will focus on patient selection for tapering, including identifying those at high risk for serious adverse outcomes and those most likely to benefit from this process. Participants will learn effective strategies for introducing the concept of tapering to patients, ensuring clear communication and patient buy-in. The lecture will then delve into best practices for tapering both opioids and benzodiazepines, addressing the specific challenges and considerations for each drug class. Finally, this session will discuss the transition from traditional chronic opioid therapy to buprenorphine, offering guidance on this increasingly common practice.

 

Target Audience

 

Physicians

Advanced Practice Clinicians

Learning Objectives

  • Identify patient selection for tapering, including those at-risk for serious adverse outcomes and/or who would benefit from tapering
  • Learn how to introduce tapering to patients in an effective manner
  • Discuss best practices around tapering opioids
  • Discuss best practices around tapering benzodiazepines
  • Discuss transitions from traditional chronic opioid therapy to buprenorphine
Course summary
Available credit: 
  • 1.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™
Course opens: 
03/12/2025
Course expires: 
03/14/2028
Part of: 
Compass Opioid Stewardship Certificate Program
Rating: 
0

Rachael Duncan, PharmD BCPS BCCCP

Rachael is a pharmacist and consultant for Stader Opioid Consultants based in Colorado. She has spent the past eight years focused on policy, advocacy, and educational work surrounding harm reduction and substance use disorder treatment at both the state and national level. She serves on the board of directors for the nonprofit The Naloxone Project and is Co-Chair of the MOMs (Maternal Overdose Matters) Initiative, which helps birthing hospitals distribute naloxone directly to at-risk perinatal patients and families. She is also program director for MOMs+, which helps birthing hospitals provide equitable access to treatment and recovery for perinatal patients affected by substance use disorder. Her clinical practice is in hospital-based pharmacy.

Accreditation: This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Iowa Medical Society (IMS). Compass Healthcare Collaborative (Compass) is accredited by the IMS to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Designation: The Compass Healthcare Collaborative (Compass) designates this live activity for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

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: Compass adheres to the Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Education. The content of this activity is not related to products or the business lines of an ACCME-defined ineligible company. Compass 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.

Available Credit

  • 1.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™
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