What does the term "opioid stewardship" refer to in pharmacy practice?

The term "opioid stewardship" specifically refers to strategies aimed at promoting the safe and effective use of opioid medications. This encompasses a variety of practices and policies that seek to minimize the risk of misuse, overuse, and dependence on these medications while still ensuring that patients who genuinely need them can access them appropriately.

In practice, opioid stewardship involves not only careful prescribing but also ongoing patient education, monitoring of treatment outcomes, and coordination of care among different healthcare providers. It emphasizes the necessity of balancing pain management needs with the critical public health challenge posed by the opioid crisis.

This holistic approach helps ensure that opioids are used judiciously, which can lead to better patient outcomes and a reduction in the incidence of opioid-related adverse events. The other options, while relevant to pharmacy operations and education, do not capture the comprehensive focus on safety and effectiveness that is central to the concept of opioid stewardship.