In the era of illicit fentanyl, the approach to buprenorphine induction has been adapted. Starting with low doses of buprenorphine can be applied to anyone taking a full agonist opioid, including cases of buprenorphine for chronic pain. We will discuss why, how, and what to consider as part of realistic implementation of low-dose buprenorphine induction therapy.
SPEAKERS
Tanya Uritsky, PharmD, CPE is the opioid stewardship coordinator at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. She is co-chair of the Penn Medicine Opioid Task Force, past-chair of the Society of Pain and Palliative Care Pharmacists (SPPCP) Opioid Stewardship Taskforce, and is president-elect of SPPCP. She was awarded Palliative Care Practitioner of the Year by PainWeek in 2015 and the 2020 Pennsylvania Society of Health-System Pharmacists Joe E. Smith Award for excellence.
Stephanie Abel, PharmD, BCPS is the Opioid Stewardship Program Coordinator at University of Kentucky HealthCare. Prior to that she practiced as a Pain Management and Palliative Medicine Clinical Pharmacy Specialist at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center – James Cancer Hospital. She received her PharmD from Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska after which she completed a PGY-1 in Pharmacy Practice at The Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, SC and a PGY-2 in Pain Management and Palliative Care at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, MD.
Maria Foy, PharmD, BCPS, CPE is a clinical pharmacy specialist in Palliative Care at Jefferson Abington Hospital Jefferson Health. Maria graduated from Temple University with a BS in Pharmacy and received a non-traditional PharmD from the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia. In 2013, Maria earned her board certification in pharmacotherapy (BCPS). Maria has lectured on pain management, symptom management, chronic pain and substance use disorder topics nationally and locally.