It is hypothesized that:
- By providing pre-operative patient education, a drop-box in a convenient location (the hospital pharmacy near the surgical outpatient clinic) and a reminder phone call prior to the post-operative clinic appointment, an increase in FDA-compliant unused opioid disposal rates to at least 40% will be seen.
- The investigator's guideline for opioid prescribing after operations that require an inpatient admission which the investigator established for general surgical procedures will satisfy the opioid requirements of at least 85% of patients undergoing a variety of operations from differing specialties.
- The utilization of guideline opioid prescribing and FDA-compliant unused opioid disposal will decrease the percentage of patients who are taking opioids at 6 months and 1 year after their surgery to less than 1%.
The primary objective is to determine the effect of pre-operative patient education, a drop-box in the hospital pharmacy and a reminder phone call on the proportion of patients who dispose of unused opioids using a FDA-compliant method.
Secondary objectives include:
- Determine in a prospective study whether our guideline for opioid prescribing after surgery which requires inpatient admission fulfills the opioid requirements of at least 85% of patients undergoing a variety of operations.
- Determining the effect of guideline opioid prescribing and FDA-compliant unused opioid disposal on the proportion of patients who are on opioids 6 months and 1 year after their surgery.