AMDG - Agency Medical Directors' Group Home Page

AMDG - Interagency Guidelines
Home
Contact Us
Interagency Guidelines
AMDG News and Events

Interagency Guidelines


Medical treatment guidelines are published as an educational tool for medical providers caring for patients of state agency programs. State agencies use the guidelines to evaluate health technologies, including devices, durable medical equipment, procedures, diagnostics, and off-label drug use.

 

Recommendations on Prescribing Long-Term Opioid Therapy from Bree Collaborative and Washington Agency Medical Directors' Group

The 2020 guideline on prescribing Long-Term Opioid Therapy updates the evidence and aligns best practice commendations with those from the 2015 AMDG Interagency Guideline on Prescribing Opioids for Pain, guidelines from the HHS Guide for Clinicians on the Appropriate Dosage Reduction or Discontinuation of Long-Term Opioid Analgesics, and the Washington State Administrative Code (WAC) on pain management rules. This supplement was developed by the Dr. Robert Bree Collaborative and AMDG in collaboration with an advisory group of the state’s academic pain leaders, pain experts, providers in primary care and specialty areas, addiction medicine experts, and patients.

A Supplement to the AMDG Guideline on Prescribing Opioids for Postoperative Pain

The 2018 guideline, Prescribing Opioids for Postoperative Pain, was developed by the Dr. Robert Bree Collaborative, AMDG and an advisory group of academic leaders, pain experts and surgeons in response to the growing epidemic of opioid-related overdoses. This guideline is intended to supplement the AMDG 2015 Interagency Guideline on Prescribing Opioids for Pain.  Newly emerging data show that patients often receive more opioids for home use than are necessary for procedure-related pain, which may result in dangerous and illegal diversion.  This guideline provides a general framework for managing postoperative pain at time of discharge, while minimizing leftover pills.

Dental Guideline on Prescribing Opioids from Bree Collaborative and Washington Agency Medical Directors' Group

The new 2017 Dental Guideline on Prescribing Opioids for Acute Pain Management was created in response to the growing epidemic of opioid-related overdoses and supplements the AMDG 2015 Interagency Guideline on Prescribing Opioids for Pain. This guideline was developed in partnership a broad advisory group, including members of the Dr. Robert Bree Collaborative, AMDG and dentists in general care and specialty areas. This easy-to-use reference is designed to give dentists, oral surgeons, and others a set of clinical recommendations and access to supporting evidence and resources to align opioid prescribing with current evidence.

Opioid Guideline from Washington Agency Medical Directors' Group

Please note, the guideline is not a rule, and it is separate from DOH Pain Management Rules.

The new AMDG 2015 Interagency Guideline on Prescribing Opioids for Pain was developed in partnership with a broad advisory group of the state’s academic leaders, pain experts, and clinicians in both primary care and specialty areas. The new guideline offers a balanced approach to pain management that includes recommendations for multimodal non-opioid therapies and opioids when appropriate. By using the best practices in the new guideline, clinicians can improve the care of patients with chronic pain and help save lives.

The 2015 guideline was developed and written between April 2014 and June 2015. The public was invited to comment on the draft guideline during four weeks in April and May. A summary of the public comments and the AMDG responses to them are provided here.

Additional Information

For more information on guideline development and health technology assessments, please view the Washington State Health Care Authority Health Technology Assessment Program website.


About AMDG | Privacy and security statement | Intended use/external content policy | Contact us

© Washington State Agency Medical Directors' Group. Use of this site is subject to the laws of the state of Washington.