Three Pharmacy Residents selected a project to ascertain the calculation variability among several healthcare providers when attempting to convert five different opioids to an equivalent dose of morphine.  As prescribing of opioids has become more prevalent and deaths from opioid overdoses have increased congruently, so too does the concern for the accuracy and reliability of conversion resources.

These preliminary results were presented in a POSTER at the 2013 ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting in Orlando FL.  Authors of this poster included:

Rennick A, Atkinson T, Cimino N, McPherson ML, Fudin J. Variability in Opioid Equivalence.  ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting. December 11, 2013.

There is much more data to share that include a significantly higher number of survey participants, response by profession, years of practice, specialty area, geographic location, conversion resources used, and other important parameters.  We hope to wrap this all up into a single publication soon.  Stay tuned!