Health System Research Fund Program Awards: Quality Improvement and Safety
Dr. Hance Clarke MD, PhD FRCPC Dr. Duminda Wijeysundera MD, PhD
UHN - TGH UHN - TGH
On February 28, 2018, the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care announced the results of the Health System Research Fund Program Awards. Drs. Hance Clarke and Duminda Wijeysundera were successful in obtaining funding to a highly competitive program for the following project.
Project: | The Ontario Transitional Pain and Opioid Safety Program: Improving Pain and Opioid Practices for Complex Chronic Pain Patients Following Surgery. |
Duration: | 4 years |
Amount: | $2,085,486.00 |
Surgery leads 1 in 5 patients to develop chronic pain. Opioid-dependent patients presenting for surgery receive insufficient and unsuitable care. Most have their opioid doses increased by 200 - 300% after surgery and are sent home without appropriate follow-up. The Transitional Pain Service (TPS) aims to continue generating high quality evidence in a field of medicine where none exists.
Funding from the HSRF program will enable the team to:
- Conduct a multisite randomized control trial of the TPS intervention vs. a control intervention on two co-primary outcomes: opioid weaning and improved function one year after surgery for opioid dependent patients;
- Evaluate the cost-effectiveness of this program
- Gather in-depth qualitative data to provide insight into the 1.9 million Ontarians currently taking opioids for pain and struggling to manage their pain
For more information on competition results, please click here: http://www.health.gov.on.ca/en/pro/ministry/research/hsrf_program.aspx#results