Oregon healthcare coalition devises guidelines to limit prescription painkillers

Portland, Ore., area healthcare providers and officials in Multnomah County have created guidelines to reduce the prevalence of prescription painkillers and help address opioid addiction, according to The Oregonian.

According to the report, Multnomah County has reduced heroin-related deaths since 2011, but not prescription painkiller-related deaths. Statewide, Oregon physicians write enough opiate prescriptions annually to give every resident 30 pills a year, according to the report.

To help curb the growing issue, health systems including Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente, Portland-based Oregon Health & Science University, Renton, Wash.-based Providence Health & Services, Legacy Health, Hillsboro, Ore.-based Tuality Health Systems and Roseville, Calif.-based Adventist Health, in addition to payers and county health officials, formed a coalition. According to the report, the plan they provided call for an education campaign, increased availability of naxolone, which reverses opioid overdoses, prescription guidelines and increased evaluation and monitoring of patients by physicians, among other measures.

Read the full report here.

 

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