Impact of a pharmacist-directed pain management service on inpatient opioid use, pain control, and patient safety.

Purpose: To evaluate the impact of a pharmacy-directed pain management service (PPMS) designed to optimize analgesic pharmacotherapy, minimize adverse events, and improve patients' experience of pain management.

Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted to evaluate the PPMS consisting of 3 dedicated pain management clinical pharmacists who perform both consult-based and stewardship functions. Multiple measures of opioid use and associated patient satisfaction outcomes during 3-year periods before and after implementation of the PPMS were compared.