The Impact of a Clinical Pharmacist Practitioner on Perioperative Pain Management for Orthopedic Surgeries

The objective of this quality improvement (QI) project was to assess the impact of an evidence based clinical pharmacist practitioner (CPP) model applied to perioperative pain management by integrating a CPP into the perioperative orthopedic surgery clinical pathway. Secondary objective was to assess the effect of CPP pain management service on surgical team satisfaction. This QI project expanded CPP pain management services for patients who were scheduled for an orthopedic surgery. Surgical provider satisfaction of CPP pain management services was assessed through a provider survey. Pain management recommendations by the Pain CPP were implemented 61% (n = 23/38) of the time by the orthopedic surgeon. The impact of the Pain CPP on perioperative pain management was demonstrated by improvement in the Clinically Aligned Pain Assessment Tool, which was similar in patients where CPP recommendations were accepted compared to surgeon only recommended regimens (p = 0.048). Five orthopedic surgical providers responded to our satisfaction survey, 80% (n = 4/5) strongly agree that a pain management CPP should become a permanent member of the care team. Through an evidence-based CPP model we observed a reduction in quantity of opioid prescribed and morphine equivalent daily dose utilized in patients who underwent an orthopedic surgery.