Opioid Prescribing Guidelines
Opioid prescribing guidelines are intended to support clinicians in providing safe and effective pain management while minimizing the risk of misuse, addiction, and overdose in patients.
The recommendations are grouped into four areas of consideration:
- Determining whether or not to initiate opioids for pain (Recommendations 1, 2)
- Selecting opioids and determining opioid dosages (Recommendations 3, 4, 5)
- Deciding duration of initial opioid prescription and conducting follow-up (Recommendations 6, 7)
- Assessing risk and addressing potential harms of opioid use (Recommendations 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
The CDC guideline can be reviewed in more depth using resources linked below.
Additional prescribing recommendations tailored to multiple medical and surgical specialities can also be found below.
One of the most prominent resources is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Clinical Practice Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Pain, last updated in 2022. This comprehensive guideline is intended for clinicians providing care for patients aged 18 or older with acute pain, subacute pain, or chronic pain.
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NIH: STAT Pearls: Responsible Controlled Substance and Opioid Prescribing
Horn DB, Vu L, Porter BR, et al. Responsible Controlled Substance and Opioid Prescribing. [Updated 2025 Mar 28]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2025 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK572085/This resources aims to educate providers on:
Prescribing Guidelines
AHRQ: Opioid Treatments for Chronic Pain
Chronic pain is common, and opioid therapy is frequently prescribed for this condition. This report updates and expands on a prior Comparative Effectiveness Review on long-term (≥1 year) effectiveness and harms of opioid therapy for chronic pain, including evidence on shorter term (1 to 12 months) outcomes. Key Messages: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK556253/https://effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov/products/opioids-chronic-pain/research Chou R, Hartung D, Turner …
Prescribing Guidelines
Michigan Quality Improvement Consortium Guideline on Safer Opioid Prescribing
Use this one-page guideline for patients aged ≥ 18 years with acute or chronic pain outside of palliative and end-of-life care.
Michigan Resources on Safer Opioid Prescribing Prescribing Guidelines
PCSS Pain Core Curriculum
This is a comprehensive educational curriculum for clinicians and healthcare professionals treating pain and addressing concerns related to opioid use disorder (OUD). This curriculum consists of 14 modules covering essential topics to enhance effective pain evaluation and treatment. Each stand-alone module is available at no cost and is designated for Physician, PA, Nursing, Pharmacy, and …
Prescribing Guidelines
SCOPE of Pain
SCOPE of Pain is a series of continuing medical education/continuing nursing education activities designed to help you safely and effectively manage patients with acute and/or chronic pain, when appropriate, with opioid analgesics.
Prescribing Guidelines
Clinical Practice Guideline at a Glance
A condensed overview of the updated practice guidelines.
Prescribing Guidelines
Full Clinical Practice Guideline
The full text version of the Clinical Practice Guideline.
Prescribing Guidelines
CDC resource related to Opioids in general
Basic information about opioids and how they are prescribed for a general audience.
Prescribing Guidelines
FDA: What to Ask Your Doctor Before Taking Opioids: A Checklist
Opioid medications can have very serious side effects. Please use this checklist as a guide when asking your health care provider questions BEFORE Taking opioids.
Prescribing Guidelines
Acute Care Opioid Treatment and Prescribing Recommendations: Surgical
These recommendations will assist surgeons with: Scroll down to “Acute Pain Recommendations” to download the pdf.
Prescribing Guidelines
Acute Care Opioid Treatment and Prescribing Recommendations: Emergency Department
The recommendations will assist ED physicians in treating and prescribing patients: Scroll down to “Acute Pain Recommendations” to download the pdf.
Prescribing Guidelines
Acute Care Opioid Treatment and Prescribing Recommendations: Dental
These recommendations will assist dentists in treating patients throughout each phase of treatment: pre-procedure, prescribing, and post-procedure (for patients discharged with an opioid prescription). Scroll down to “Acute Pain Recommendations” to download the pdf.
Prescribing Guidelines
Michigan Open: 4 Evidence-Based Reasons to Change Opioid Prescribing Practices
This pamphlet presents 4 evidence-based reasons to change opioid prescribing habits after surgery.
Michigan Resources on Safer Opioid Prescribing Prescribing Guidelines
Michigan OPEN: Opioid Prescribing Recommendations for Surgery
These procedure-specific prescribing recommendations, were developed by Michigan OPEN to curb the over-prescribing of post-operative opioids. These recommendations, for patients with no preoperative opioid use, were informed by patient-reported data from our Collaborative Quality Initiative (CQI) partners, published studies and expert opinion.
Michigan Resources on Safer Opioid Prescribing Prescribing Guidelines
MSMS: Prescribing Checklist for Controlled Substances (updated June 2018)
Use this handout as a checklist before prescribing, while prescribing and after prescribing controlled substances.
Michigan Resources on Safer Opioid Prescribing Prescribing Guidelines
Michigan State Medical Society (MSMS) On-Demand Webinars
Link to educational webinars on safer opioid prescribing with CME credit.
Michigan Resources on Safer Opioid Prescribing Prescribing Guidelines