The effects on patient retention after opioid weaning in an internal medicine residency clinic.

A retrospective, cross-sectional study was completed on 220 patients to determine the effects of implementation of an aggressive policy to curb opioid misuse/abuse in an internal medicine residency clinic. Our findings suggest that the development of a clear and consistent protocol for approaching patients on chronic controlled substances, as well as the initiation of regular didactic sessions addressing chronic pain and pain management, led to a dramatic reduction in the number or opioid prescriptions written by our resident providers without much reduction in patient volume.