Dialogue Volume 13 Issue 4 2017 | Page 45

PRACTICE PARTNER Get an Opioid Prescribing Snapshot Newest addition to MyPractice reports aims to provide data that helps doctors improve their care D r. David Kaplan, a family doctor in Toronto, recently learned some- thing that he says shocked him about his patient roster. Of his 1,100 patients, 70 had started on opioids in the previous six months. Yet he was the prescriber for only 30% of those patients. The other 70% received the drug from someone else. With this data, Dr. Kaplan now includes a question about opioid use in the EMR template when doing a periodic heath review. He hopes this screening ques- tion will help him to better identify and manage these patients. The information on opioid use came when Dr. Kaplan examined a preview of his own MyPractice Report – a Primary Care Practice Report (PCPR) developed by Health Quality Ontario (HQO). PCPRs provide Ontario doctors with confidential information about their own practice relative to peers across the province. The reports have covered dia- betes management, cancer screening and the use of other health services like emergency departments. In November 2017, the PCPRs began including opioid prescribing patterns. Dr. David Kaplan Beyond gaining insight into key measurements, doctors can access ideas to address possible issues in their practice. “You can take that information and make a change to improve [patient] care,” says Dr. Kaplan, Provincial Clinical Lead, Primary Care for HQO. Improvement Tips Add Value MyPractice reports offer helpful cumulative data, but don’t identify individual patients. For instance, they’ll show how your screening rate for colon cancer com- pares to other family doctors, or what percentage of your diabetes patients have had a regular eye exam. The suggestions for change give the reports added value. With diabetes management, for example, a doc- tor might use software to create a cohort of diabetic patients, send a letter reminding them of the impor- tance of eye exams and offering to provide a list (if needed) of optometrists in the patient’s community. In addition to providing information that helps improve patient care, PCPRs also are a great way for physicians to meet their continuing professional devel- opment requirement. For opioid prescribing, the PCPRs includes four metrics: ISSUE 4, 2017 DIALOGUE 45