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Opioid Risk Tool (ORT)

Assess the risk of developing opioid addiction in patients ages 16 years and older who have been prescribed opioids for pain

 

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Benefits for Healthcare Providers

The opioid risk assessment questionnaire helps identify patients at increased risk of developing opioid addiction. It can be used alongside additional questionnaires and cognitive tasks in Creyos Health for a fuller picture of cognitive health.


Workflow-1

Simplify Administration

Administer the ORT questionnaire alongside other substance abuse questionnaires and cognitive tasks—all on one platform.

One Platform

Increase Access to Care

Enable patients to complete the ORT screening tool in person or at home, with real-time results, improving access to assessment and treatment.

Track Over Time

Track Patient Health Over Time

Determine which patients require closer observation over the course of treatment by evaluating behaviors over time.

30% of Patients Prescribed Opioids Will Misuse Them

And an estimated 8-12% will become addicted. The ORT, in conjunction with additional measures of substance abuse and validated neuropsychological tasks in Creyos Health, can help clinicians identify behaviors associated with opioid abuse disorder, evaluate the cognitive impact of drug use, track severity, and monitor treatment progress.

Review our guide below for a complete list of standardized questionnaires available in Creyos.

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Source: National Institute on Drug Abuse

Opioids misuse stat

Preview the Creyos ORT Sample Report

The ORT offered through Creyos is a 10-question self-report questionnaire designed to screen pain patients for risk of opioid addiction. 

When administered alongside measures of cognitive performance, it allows clinicians to:

  • Effectively determine which patients are more likely to develop aberrant opioid-related behaviors
  • Give patients the option to complete in person or remotely
  • Reduce administrative burden with automated scoring and results

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ORT Report

How to Use the Opioid Risk Tool

Step 1: Explain the Questionnaire

The opioid risk assessment questionnaire is used to screen patients who are already taking opioids for their risk of developing opioid addiction. This helps clinicians spot potential opioid misuse and intervene for better treatment outcomes.

Step 2: Administer Questionnaire

The ORT questionnaire contains 10 questions that determine risk for aberrant opioid-related behaviors, including personal and family history of substance abuse, age, history of preadolescent sexual abuse, and certain psychological conditions.

It can be administered in person through the Creyos Health platform on an in-clinic device or remotely through a provided link.

Step 3: Review Results

Creyos Health automatically scores ORT results and provides reports. Higher scores indicate a greater risk of developing opioid addiction, but scores should not be used to deny a patient opioid prescriptions.

Step 4: Compare With Cognitive Results

Healthcare providers can discuss results with patients and combine with other assessments and cognitive tasks to build a complete picture of the patient’s health.

How to Use ORT

Mitigate Opioid Misuse with Creyos Health

In 2023, nearly 8.6 million Americans aged 12 years and older reported misusing prescription opioids in the past year. Certain key factors increase a person’s risk for developing opioid addiction, including personal and family history of substance abuse or mental health conditions, age, underlying medical conditions, and past trauma.

Creyos Health’s neuropsychological tasks can help clinicians determine which patients who are prescribed opioids are at risk for aberrant opioid-related behaviors. These tasks can be used alongside the ORT and additional questionnaires like the PMQ, the AUDIT, and the DAST-10, to gain a more complete picture of patient health.

Source: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2023

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Simplify Patient Pain Management and Opioid Risk Assessment

Administer the ORT, digitized behavioral health questionnaires, and online cognitive tasks—all in one place.

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Frequently asked questions

Where did the Opioid Risk Tool come from?

The ORT was developed by Lynn R. Webster and Rebecca M. Webster in 2005 to predict which individuals (ages 16 years and older) prescribed opioids for chronic pain are at risk of developing aberrant behaviors.

Who uses the ORT screening tool?

The opioid risk assessment questionnaire is commonly used by addiction clinics, pain clinics and professionals, mental health professionals, and other healthcare professionals, researchers, and individuals to screen for risk of drug abuse.

How is the Opioid Risk Tool scored?

Intended for individuals ages 16 years and older, the ORT is a self-report questionnaire containing 10 items that predict which individuals prescribed opioids for chronic pain are at risk for developing aberrant behaviors.

The patient places each of the 10 items in one of three categories—low, moderate, or high risk—with each item scored differently based on gender. The sum of all item scores determines the opioid abuse risk category for the individual.

The risk category can be low risk (0 to 3 points), moderate risk (4 to 7 points), or high risk (8 or more points). Patients who score within the high-risk category are the most likely to display aberrant behaviors.

How does administration and scoring of the ORT screening tool work in Creyos?

Administration is flexible and efficient; questionnaires can be administered by a mental health provider or technician, either in-clinic or emailed to the patient to be completed remotely. This flexibility allows providers to maximize their appointment time with patients, and reduce time spent on scoring or recording session notes.

When a patient completes the opioid risk assessment questionnaire, providers get immediate insights through easy-to-read reports that combine questionnaire data with cognitive test results for a full picture of patient brain health. 

Creyos can also use APIs to integrate with a variety of electronic health systems (EHR) and has a built-in integration with athenahealth. Our platform automatically collects, scores, and organizes results from each questionnaire and adds them to the patient’s EHR.

What behaviors does the Opioid Risk Tool evaluate?

The ORT assessment measures for aberrant opioid-related behaviors, including personal and family history of substance abuse, age, history of preadolescent sexual abuse, and certain psychological conditions such as attention deficit disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, bipolar, schizophrenia, and depression.

How can the ORT questionnaire support patients?

The Opioid Risk Tool should be used as a screening tool to assist primary care providers, mental health professionals, addictions or pain specialists, or others in understanding pain medication use and abuse and monitoring behaviors over time.

Any conclusions drawn from the opioid risk assessment questionnaire should be paired with further assessment, such as clinical interviews and observations, additional mental health examinations or assessments, and evaluations of the patient’s level of distress, functional impairment, and/or family history.

What can the opioid risk assessment questionnaire not do?

The ORT can serve as a starting point for conversations between patients and healthcare providers about opioid addiction, but it does not suggest a particular diagnosis or course of treatment on its own. ORT scores are meant as an aid to quantify and measure the presence and severity of symptoms and behaviors over time, and they should not be used to deny individuals opioid prescriptions.

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