Addressing Opioid Misuse | AHRQ Innovations Exchange

Addressing Opioid Misuse | AHRQ Innovations Exchange





Addressing Opioid Misuse

Prescribing of opioid analgesics has increased substantially in recent years, as have the consequences associated with opioid misuse: emergency department (ED) visits, treatment admissions, and overdose-related fatalities. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data, unintended deaths caused by prescription opioid overdoses are a leading cause of death by injury in the United States. Health care organizations, community-based agencies, and other stakeholders are implementing innovative policies and strategies to address this major health problem.

The featured Innovations describe three programs aimed at reducing opioid misuse and associated health and safety consequences. The initiatives include a mayoral task force in New York City that developed a series of strategies to combat the problem, an ED that implemented a protocol on the use of controlled substances, and an opioid overdose prevention and education program for potential responders.

The featured QualityTools include a manual on the development of overdose prevention programs, a protocol to help clinicians make treatment decisions for patients who may be abusing opioids, and a guide that supports implementation of overdose prevention and response strategies by potential responders.

Featured Innovations:

•  Cross-Agency Mayoral Task Force Promotes Policies and Initiatives To Reduce Prescription Opioid Misuse and Related Problems, Achieves Some Early Successes

•  Emergency Department and Urgent Care Clinicians Use Protocol To Reduce Opioid Prescriptions for Patients Suspected of Abusing Controlled Substances

•  State Health Department and Community Agencies Save Lives by Teaching Potential Bystanders To Recognize and Respond to Opioid-Related Overdoses

Featured QualityTools:

• Guide To Developing and Managing Overdose Prevention and Take-Home Naloxone Projects
Developed by Harm Reduction Coalition

• Protocol for the Prescription of Controlled Substances by Emergency Department Providers
Developed by Lincoln County Healthcare

• The Massachusetts Department of Public Health Opioid Overdose Education and Naloxone Distribution
Developed by Massachusetts Department of Public Health