Table 2.

Themes and potential implications for opioid tapering in primary care settings

Themes	Potential Implications for Providers
Strategies for identifying candidates for opioid tapering
Evidence of high-risk behavior	Develop patient-centered educational resources on opioid-related risks
Serious adverse events or other crises	Assess psychosocial factors such as family support and employment
Opioid-related side effects	Discuss importance of specific side effects and emphasize goals of improved quality of life
Patient preference	Implement routine screening for patients’ readiness to taper opioids
Barriers to opioid tapering
Emotional burden on providers	Implement evidence-based interventions to prevent and reduce provider burnout [27]
Inadequate training, time, and resources	Develop models for team-based primary care during opioid tapering
Lack of trust between patient and provider	Standardize collection of patient-reported outcome data during long-term opioid therapy
Facilitators of opioid tapering
Empathizing with patient’s experience	Acknowledge patients’ pain experience and express empathy
Preparing patients for opioid tapering	Incorporate discussion of opioid tapering planning into routine opioid monitoring
Individualize implementation of opioid tapering	Tailor details of taper timing with patient
Supportive guidelines and policies	Engage providers to create or update local policies