This indicator measures the percentage of non-palliative patients newly dispensed an opioid within a six-month reporting period prescribed by any provider in the health care system.
The 2017 Canadian Guideline for Opioids for Chronic Non-Cancer Pain and Ontario Health's quality standard for Opioid Prescribing for Chronic Pain both recommend against prescribing opioids for chronic non-cancer pain until non-opioid pharmacotherapy and/or nonpharmacological therapies have been attempted. Avoiding new starts of opioids can help to prevent long-term use, which can lead to significant harm.
Performance on this indicator is available in Ontario Health's MyPractice Primary Care Report.
Key resources