To combat the opioid crisis that continues to claim lives in the U.S., more health systems are developing holistic programs to address opioid use disorder within the four walls of their hospitals.

A program implemented at Dallas-based Baylor Scott & White Health helped cut post-surgery opioid prescriptions by 64 percent, according to a study published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.

Although use of opioids to treat back pain patients coming to the emergency department decreased overall from 2007 to 2016, the use of one opioid, tramadol, doubled, new research shows, according to MedPage Today.

State laws on opioid prescription volumes may help lower opioid use and positively influence providers' prescribing decisions, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open.

Plans for the country's first supervised injection site, scheduled to open next week in Philadelphia, abruptly ended Feb. 28, according to ABC affiliate WPVI.

Sonoma (Calif.) Valley Hospital terminated the employment of a longtime physician last month for failing to follow the organization's opioid prescribing guidelines, reports the Sonoma Index-Tribune.

Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Healthcare launched an opioid-free surgery program, the first-of-its-kind in Utah.

The number of non-cancer patients with chronic pain prescribed an opioid doubled across the globe over 25 years, according to a study published in the Journal of Internal Medicine.

The country's first supervised injection site will open in Philadelphia next week, reports The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder may prevent more fatal overdoses than traditional therapy methods, according to a study published in the journal Addiction.

People who abuse opioids are more likely to be hospitalized for sepsis and die, even if they are young and otherwise healthy, according to new research.

More than 25 percent of opioid overdoses involve youth as overdoses become increasingly severe, according to an analysis presented at the Society of Critical Care Medicine's 49th Critical Care Congress. 

An Ohio county is considering opening a second morgue to accommodate the high number of drug overdose deaths at the beginning of February, according to an ABC News report.

A fatal new drug combination of heroin cut with synthetic fentanyl has emerged that may be too dangerous to even touch, a police department in Louisiana is warning the public, according to CBS News.

Chances are, you know someone in your life who suffers from chronic pain. Workplace injuries, aging, car accidents, disease, and many other common events can trigger a lifetime of pain for those afflicted. However, the sheer scale of the problem is staggering.

A steering committee for the United States and Canada's Joint Action Plan on Opioids met Jan. 31, creating working groups for key challenges faced by both countries, according to the White House.

A majority of physicians who prescribe opioids do so within recommended parameters, suggesting that strategies to deal with opioid abuse should focus on improving the management of complex pain patients and reducing additional chronic conditions that pain patients suffer from, according to a study published in The BMJ.

States that expanded Medicaid had fewer opioid overdose deaths, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open.

A program at Houston Methodist Hospital emphasizing the use of over-the-counter medication to manage patients' pain after surgery has helped the hospital reduce opioid prescriptions from 87 percent to about 10 percent, according to a study published in the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.

Philadelphia will begin monitoring physicians' prescribing patterns to identify and intervene with those who overprescribe opioids, reports WHYY, Philadelphia's public media organization.