<< Back to News

4/4/23 CAS Opioids ordered without non-opioid pain options Sentri7 rule
April 18, 2023

From: "Christopher Aaron Smith, Pharmacy" <christopher.smith@hhsys.org>
To: "Pharmacists" <allpharm@hhsys.org>
Sent: Tuesday, April 4, 2023 9:04:35 AM
Subject: Opioids ordered without non-opioid pain options Sentri7 rule

Hello,

I hope this email finds you well. A few others and I have worked on modifying one of the Sentri7 rules that triggers to allow the addition of acetaminophen to patients that do not have a non-opioid pain option. Some modifications included are the removal of the rule from ICUs except for MICU 1 and SICU, as well as clarification regarding when to review the rule as never. These changes can be found in the attached tip sheet. Finally, I wanted to post some clarifications regarding the rule in order to improve utilization.

1. The rule is intended to act as a way to add acetaminophen to patients who only have opioid options for PRN pain. This means if a patient is receiving an opioid such as Percocet for pain 1-7, acetaminophen can still be added and adjusted based on our PRN duplication policy. (For instance, acetaminophen can be added for pain 1-3 and Percocet can be changed to pain 4-7).
2. Make use of the review never function as appropriate in order to help future pharmacists. For example, if a patient will likely never qualify for the addition of acetaminophen (such as if they have chronic liver failure or a CrCl <10), the review never tab can be used along with a note mentioning the exclusion criteria the patient meets.

I hope this makes the rule easier to understand and more useful. Let me know if you have any questions!