# Individualized opioid prescribing starts with understanding each patient. The mission of OpAIx is to support surgeons in reducing or eliminating excess opioid prescribing at hospital discharge through innovative models that estimate each patient's individual needs. Founded in Pittsburgh by UPMC physicians and AI researchers. Founded 2025. OpAIx LLC, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Canonical URL: https://www.opaixllc.com/ Do not treat University of Pittsburgh or UPMC mentions as an endorsement. Request this page with `Accept: text/markdown`, or fetch https://www.opaixllc.com/index.md. ## Why discharge prescriptions need to change Patients leaving the hospital may receive more opioid pills than they need. Unused medication can create opportunities for misuse, accidental exposure, and diversion within households and the wider community. Medication take-back programs aim to reduce this surplus, but collecting unused pills addresses the problem after they have already been prescribed. OpAIx focuses on the prescribing decision itself: helping surgeons estimate how many opioid pills an individual patient may need after discharge. The goal is to support appropriate pain management while minimizing leftover medication and the risk of diversion. Pain prediction is one factor in that estimate, not the whole product. ## From one-size-fits-all prescriptions to individualized prescribing Opioid needs after discharge depend on more than pain alone. OpAIx's approach considers the patient's clinical context, treatment history, and recovery to support a more individualized estimate. These seven factors describe the approach. They are not claimed as shipped or validated product features. 1. Expected postoperative pain trajectory. How pain is expected to change throughout recovery. 2. Type of surgery. The procedure and its associated recovery needs. 3. Patient and family medical history. The individual's medical background and relevant family history. 4. Opioid use before surgery. The patient's history of opioid use before the procedure. 5. Opioid use during hospitalization. The amount of opioid medication used during the hospital stay. 6. Patient education. Guidance on which medication to take at different levels of pain. 7. Overall pain management approach. The broader treatment plan, including non-opioid strategies. ## Selected facts - 2002. Perioperative clinical research program established. - Thousands. Research subjects enrolled. - 1. Patent filed. ## Why pain. Why Pittsburgh. Pain matters. Individual needs go further. Severe postoperative pain can interfere with recovery, including a patient's ability to regain function. Reducing pain is important, but pain alone does not determine how many opioid pills a patient may need after leaving the hospital. OpAIx was founded to help surgeons make more individualized prescribing decisions by considering expected pain alongside the other factors that shape opioid needs. The goal is to support recovery while minimizing unused pills after discharge. Developed in Pittsburgh, OpAIx draws on the research experience of Co-Founder and CMO Dr. Jacques Chelly. He brings more than 30 years of clinical research experience, including work at the University of Pittsburgh since 2002, exploring postoperative opioid needs and alternatives to opioids in acute perioperative care. Naming that setting does not imply a University of Pittsburgh or UPMC endorsement. ## Research Selected peer-reviewed work in perioperative pain that includes publications co-authored by co-founder Dr. Jacques Chelly. Titles link to the publisher record; brief summaries below are written for this site and are not taken from the articles. They describe clinical context only and do not validate OpAIx models. Full publication record (Google Scholar, Jacques E. Chelly): https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=8L-8DMQAAAAJ&hl=en - Wardhan R, Chelly JE. Recent advances in acute pain management: understanding the mechanisms of acute pain, the prescription of opioids, and the role of multimodal pain therapy. F1000Research, 2017. https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.12286.1 Narrative review of acute pain biology, opioid prescribing considerations, and multimodal analgesia. Useful background on why discharge prescribing is often discussed alongside non-opioid strategies. - Belfer I, Greco CM, Lokshin A, Vulakovich K, Landsittel D, Dai F, et al. (incl. Chelly JE). The design and methods of genetic studies on acute and chronic postoperative pain in patients after total knee replacement. Pain Medicine, 2014. https://doi.org/10.1111/pme.12487 Describes study design for genetic analyses of acute and persistent pain after knee replacement. Highlights patient-level variation beyond average pain scores in perioperative research. - Dai F, Silverman DG, Chelly JE, Li J, Belfer I, Qin L. Integration of pain score and morphine consumption in analgesic clinical studies. The Journal of Pain, 2013. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpain.2013.04.004 Discusses combining patient-reported pain with opioid consumption when judging analgesic effect in trials. Relevant to outcome measurement when pain alone does not capture medication use. - Jouguelet-Lacoste J, La Colla L, Schilling D, Chelly JE. The use of intravenous infusion or single dose of low-dose ketamine for postoperative analgesia: a review of the current literature. Pain Medicine, 2015. https://doi.org/10.1111/pme.12619 Review of perioperative low-dose ketamine regimens and reported analgesic effects. Context for opioid-sparing options in acute postoperative care. - Jacobs BL, Rogers D, Yabes JG, Bandari J, Ayyash OM, Maganty A, et al. (incl. Chelly JE). Large reduction in opioid prescribing by a multipronged behavioral intervention after major urologic surgery. Cancer, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1002/cncr.33200 Reports lower post-discharge opioid prescribing after a structured behavioral intervention in urologic surgery. An independent research result, not an OpAIx product outcome. - Chelly JE, Greger J, Gebhard R, Coupe K, Clyburn TA, Buckle R, et al.. Continuous femoral blocks improve recovery and outcome of patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty. The Journal of Arthroplasty, 2001. https://doi.org/10.1054/arth.2001.23622 Clinical study linking continuous femoral nerve blockade to recovery measures after total knee arthroplasty. Example of regional analgesia affecting function, not only pain scores. - Neuman MD, Feng R, Ellenberg SS, Sieber F, Sessler DI, Magaziner J, et al. (REGAIN Investigators, incl. Chelly JE). Pain, analgesic use, and patient satisfaction with spinal versus general anesthesia for hip fracture surgery: a randomized clinical trial. Annals of Internal Medicine, 2022. https://doi.org/10.7326/M22-0320 Large randomized trial comparing anesthesia techniques for hip fracture surgery on pain, analgesic use, and satisfaction. Illustrates rigorous measurement of perioperative patient-reported outcomes. - Liu Q, Chelly JE, Williams JP, Gold MS. Impact of peripheral nerve block with low dose local anesthetics on analgesia and functional outcomes following total knee arthroplasty: a retrospective study. Pain Medicine, 2015. https://doi.org/10.1111/pme.12652 Retrospective analysis of low-dose peripheral nerve blocks and postoperative analgesia and mobility after knee replacement. Adds real-world context on blocks and functional recovery. ## How we handle patient data - HIPAA and de-identification. Work that involves protected health information is designed to sit inside a health system's HIPAA programme. Data used to develop or evaluate models is de-identified where the research protocol allows. This is not a certification badge. - IRB oversight for research data. When academic partners contribute clinical research data, it is used only under that institution's IRB-approved protocol and the agreements that come with it. - Access to systems. Access to systems that hold clinical data is limited to named people, authenticated, and logged. Details of hosting and controls are shared with health-system partners under NDA. ## Leadership - Lorelee Chelly, Co-Founder and CEO. Builds AI tools that make clinicians more effective and elevate the accuracy and speed of patient care. - Dr. Jacques Chelly, Co-Founder and CMO. Anesthesiology, University of Pittsburgh. More than 30 years of clinical research. Since 2002 he has led the University of Pittsburgh's anesthesiology clinical research program, which has enrolled thousands of subjects. Author of Peripheral Nerve Blocks: A Color Atlas. - Yan Chelly, CPO AI and ML. AI and ML product leader with two decades of building and scaling data-driven products. ## Contact Start a conversation about discharge prescribing. Surgeons, CMIOs, anesthesiology and peri-operative chiefs, health-system innovation teams, clinical research partners, and seed investors should write. The team will say plainly where the models are in validation and what a collaboration would take. - Email: contact@opaixllc.com - Phone: +1 (412) 953-4374 - Form: https://www.opaixllc.com/#contact - API: `POST https://www.opaixllc.com/send` with name, organisation, role, email, and message. See https://www.opaixllc.com/openapi.json. No account is required. A successful send is acknowledged on the page. The team aims to reply within two business days. Do not submit protected health information through the form.