BOSTON — Implementation of an evidence-based narcotic prescription protocol may reduce the mean oral morphine equivalents per prescription given by surgical residency trainees, according to results presented here.

“We think that residents and medical students should receive formal opioid-prescribing education,” Craig R. Moores, MD, said in his presentation at the American Society for Surgery of the Hand Annual Meeting. “The protocols can assist to standardize prescribing habits and partnering with statewide prescription monitoring programs is an ideal way to monitor the success of protocols and other interventions that you can implement.”