The Excess Opioid Disposal Study

It is hypothesized that:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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:

1. 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.
2. 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.