Title: Background information

Context:
Government agencies, including the VA, DoD, and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services  Administration (SAMHSA), have also launched initiatives to improve the study and treatment of pain and  adverse events associated with opioid analgesics such as OUD and overdose. By August 2013, the VA  deployed the Opioid Safety Initiative (OSI) requirements to all Veterans Integrated Service Networks  (VISNs) with the aim of ensuring opioids are used in a safe, effective, and judicious manner. The goals of  the OSI related to such topics as increased education, monitoring, use of safe and effective prescribing and  management methods, tool development, collaboration, and use of alternative pain treatment. The OSI  uses the Veterans Health Administration (VHA’s) electronic health record to identify patients who may be  high-risk for adverse outcomes with use of opioids and providers whose prescribing practices do not  reflect best evidence so that patient care can be improved. The OSI requirements include specific  indicators (e.g., the number of unique pharmacy patients dispensed an opioid, the unique patients on LOT who have received UDT). As part of the OSI, the VA launched the Opioid Overdose Education and  Naloxone Distribution (OEND) program, which was implemented as a risk mitigation strategy aimed at  reducing deaths from opioid overdose. The program components included education and training  regarding the following topics: opioid overdose prevention, recognition, and rescue response; risk  mitigation strategies; and issuing naloxone kits, which can be used as an antidote to opioid  overdose.

Question: What does the OSI requirements include?

Answer: specific  indicators (e.g., the number of unique pharmacy patients dispensed an opioid, the unique patients on LOT who have received UDT)