Reassess the benefits, risks, and need for continued opioid therapy at each visit
Continue opioid therapy only if there is clinically meaningful improvement that outweighs risks to patient safety1
Consider how to discontinue opioid therapy if benefits do not outweigh risks1
If benefits do not outweigh harms of continued therapy, optimize other therapies and work with patients to lower the opioid dose or to taper and discontinue the opioid1
Reference: 1. Dowell D, Haegerich T, Chou R. CDC guideline for prescribing opioids for chronic pain—United States, 2016. MMWR Recomm Rep. 2016;65(No.RR-1):1-49. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/65/rr/pdfs/rr6501e1.pdf. Accessed February 21, 2018.