If I Could Build a Pharmacist-Led Pain Program Again

Hey there 👋🏻

If you haven’t watched our first VuMedi video on the 5 common inpatient pain management oversights, you may want to listen to it on your next commute or lunch break. And if there’s a topic you’d love for us to cover, we’d love to hear from you.

This month marks my 3-year anniversary at my current facility. When I first started, I was asked to “build a pain management program.” That’s a big ask—because a pain program can take many forms. Here are three models I’ve built that work well and deliver measurable value:

Transition of care model

Capture patients started on buprenorphine or complex regimens. Arrange follow-up after discharge, provide routine check-ins, and offload the primary care physician’s workload.

Consult service model

Be the go-to for complex cases involving methadone, buprenorphine, or patient-controlled analgesia. Provide ongoing staff education and raise awareness around better pain management.

Opioid stewardship model

Review daily opioid use to identify prescribing patterns. Actively monitor high-risk or complex regimens before they escalate.

Now, here’s something I wish I’d known before I started because it would have saved me so much time. The American Hospital Association’s Stem the Tide guideline lays out 5 core elements for building a strong inpatient pain program.

1. Leveraging leadership and technology

2. Patient-centered care

3. Identifying existing (or missing) resources

4. Policy optimization and education

5. Benchmark selection and goal setting

   
   

Let’s use the consult service model as a case study:

Leverage leadership, patient involvement, and technology

Getting a consult service off the ground takes more than flipping a switch. You have to promote it… a lot. One of the fastest ways I found was sitting in on monthly or quarterly department meetings and talking about what the service can do.

And don’t forget about the tech side. How will consults reach you—Teams message, EHR alert, phone call? Have that mapped out early.

Patient-centered care

Pain consults usually mean complex situations. These are the times that call for empathy and active listening. If you skip that part, not only will patients notice, but colleagues may also start to lose confidence in the service.

Identify existing resources

There’s a lot already happening in the hospital that you might not know about. For example, if you have surveillance tools like TheraDoc or MedMined, you can set them up to flag high-risk regimens and turn those into consults.

Policy optimization and education

If your program starts with just you (or you and one other person), you can only do so much alone. The trick is to level up the rest of the team. And start where they are. If non-opioid dosing isn’t second nature yet, start there before jumping into methadone or buprenorphine.

Benchmark selection and goal setting

Any program needs a goal. Pick one or two benchmarks—like opioid use per discharge, total opioid days, or average daily dose. Then start making a dent.

If you’re in hospital administration and considering an opioid stewardship program, the framework is similar. Start with Stem the Tide.

And if you’re still unsure how to get started after reading it, our email is at the bottom of the page 😉

See you next time.

SP