Back to top
Top
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Safe Use of Opioids - Concurrent Prescribing

eCQM Compare View

Compare Versions of: "Safe Use of Opioids - Concurrent Prescribing"

The Compare function compares two years of the measure specifications found in the header of the measure's HTML. It does not include a comparison of any information in the body of the HTML, e.g., population criteria, Clinical Quality Language, or value sets.

Strikethrough text highlighted in red indicates information changed from the previous version. Text highlighted in green indicates information updated in the new eCQM version.

Compare 2025 version to

Table Options
Measure Information 2025 Reporting Period
Title Safe Use of Opioids - Concurrent Prescribing
CMS eCQM ID CMS506v7
CBE ID* 3316e
Measure Steward Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
Description

Proportion of inpatient hospitalizations for patients 18 years of age and older prescribed, or continued on, two or more opioids or an opioid and benzodiazepine concurrently at discharge

Measure Scoring Proportion measure
Measure Type Process
Stratification

None

Risk Adjustment

None

Rationale

Unintentional opioid overdose fatalities have become a major public health concern in the United States (Rudd et al., 2016). Reducing the number of unintentional overdoses has become a priority for numerous federal organizations including, but not limited to, the Centers for Disease...

Show more >
Clinical Recommendation Statement

The CDC Clinical Practice Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Pain — United States, 2022 recommends that clinicians should:

- “[Use strategies minimizing] opioid use…for both opioid-naïve and opioid-tolerant patients with acute pain when possible. If patients receiving long-term opioid...

Show more >
Improvement Notation

Improvement noted as a decrease in the rate

Definition

For the purpose of this measure, the following are defined as:

- Opioid: Schedule II, III and IV Opioid Medications that do not include naloxone.

- Benzodiazepine: Schedule IV benzodiazepine medications.

- Medications for Opioid Use Disorder: Methadone, buprenorphine and buprenorphine in...

Show more >
Guidance

Clinician judgement, clinical appropriateness, or both may indicate concurrent prescribing of two unique opioids or an opioid and benzodiazepine is medically necessary, thus the measure is not expected to have a zero rate.

Inpatient hospitalizations with discharge medications of a new or...

Show more >
Initial Population

Inpatient hospitalizations that end during the measurement period, where the patient is 18 years of age and older at the start of the encounter and prescribed one or more new or continuing opioid or benzodiazepine at discharge

Denominator

Equals Initial Population

Denominator Exclusions

Inpatient hospitalizations where patients have cancer pain that begins prior to or during the encounter or are ordered or are receiving palliative or hospice care (including comfort measures, terminal care, and dying care) during the hospitalization or in an emergency department...

Show more >
Numerator

Inpatient hospitalizations where the patient is prescribed or continuing to take two or more opioids or an opioid and benzodiazepine at discharge

Numerator Exclusions

Not Applicable

Denominator Exceptions

None

Next Version
Previous Version
Last Updated: May 06, 2025