KevinMD March 23, 2025
I’ve witnessed what’s possible when we rethink pain management. By implementing a multimodal assessment approach at my hospital, I achieved a 50 percent reduction in inpatient opioid use, measured in morphine milligram equivalents (MMEs). The Numeric Pain Scale (NPS)—that 0-10 score we’ve leaned on too much—drives overuse when it’s the only guide, and with the U.S. consuming 80 percent of the world’s opioids as just 4.4 percent of its population, that’s a problem we can’t ignore. My experience shows we can curb inpatient harm and reshape outpatient expectations. It’s time for policy to make this the norm.
The NPS looks simple: Patients rate pain, we dose opioids. But it’s shaky solo. At my facility, I paired it with objective tools—respiratory...
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