Inpatient Prescribing and Monitoring of Fentanyl Transdermal Systems: Adherence to Safety Regulations

Background:

National safety guidelines were developed to minimize the occurrence of serious adverse drug events (ADEs) associated with the use of the fentanyl transdermal system (FTS), however, reports of use in opioid-naïve patients for treatment of acute pain and associated ADEs continue to occur.

Objective:

To evaluate the prescribing patterns of the FTS for adherence to recent US regulatory recommendations and identify the impact of health information technology (HIT) on adherence rates.

Methods:

A retrospective pre- and postintervention analysis was performed in hospitalized adult patients receiving FTS. Electronic medication order instructions and text questions were incorporated into FTS electronic medication orders. The primary outcome measure was adherence of FTS medication orders to regulatory guidelines defined as (a) a new order in an opioid-tolerant patient for use in moderate to severe chronic pain or (b) continuation of the documented home dose in use for at least 7 days. Safety measures included respiratory rate and documented ADEs.

Results:

Adherence rates were significantly increased in the postintervention cohort as compared to the preintervention cohort (48.7% vs 85.0%; P < .0001). Incidence of ADEs was significantly lower post intervention (34.7% vs 23.3%; P = .043), including a lower incidence of respiratory depression (16.7% vs 8.3%; P = .043). Documentation was increased in the postintervention cohort (76% vs 100%). However, supporting documentation confirmed responses in only 59.2% of records reviewed.

Conclusions:

Incorporation of HIT via electronic order text questions increased overall adherence rates to regulatory recommendations, increased documentation, and decreased the rate of associated ADEs.