Expand ER & Healthcare Handoffs to Treatment
Return to ZOOM MAP - Improve Treatment & Enable Recovery for People with SUDs
By systematically expanding processes for "warm handoffs" by Emergency Departments to treatment, recovery coaches and the other support needed by people who are misusing opioids, developing dependence or who have an SUD, many people will be more likely to get on the path for avoiding addiction or moving forward to long-term recovery.
Contents
Background
ER visits and hospitalizations due to opioid overdose is high and rising. "Overall, ED visits (reported by 52 jurisdictions in 45 states) for suspected opioid overdoses increased 30 percent in the U.S., from July 2016 through September 2017."[1]
More than 140,000 people visited an ER for overdoses nationwide between July 2016 and Sept. 2017, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.[2]
According to a May 2018 article, "Most ER doctors stabilize patients and release them with little or no attempt to offer long-term treatment."[3]
“Research shows that people who have had an overdose are more likely to have another. Emergency department education and post-overdose protocols, including providing naloxone and linking people to treatment, are critical needs,” said Alana Vivolo-Kantor, Ph.D., behavioral scientist in CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. “Data on opioid overdoses treated in emergency departments can inform timely, strategic, and coordinated response efforts in the community as well.”[4]
Success Stories
The "warm handoff" model was pioneered in Rhode Island where all of the state’s emergency departments and hospitals were required to be state-certified to treat OUDs. The EDs must offer peer recovery support; prescribing the overdose reversal drug naloxone to at-risk patients; and offering MAT, including buprenorphine, in the ER or at a doctor’s office or treatment facility. A study by Yale researchers found that opioid-addicted patients were more likely to get treatment and reduce opioid use long-term when started on medication-assisted treatment in the ER.https://www.centerforhealthjournalism.org/fellowships/projects/how-er-docs-could-play-key-role-fighting-opioid-epidemic
Tools & Resources
Scorecard Building
Potential Objective Details
Potential Measures and Data Sources
Actions to Take
Potential Actions and Partners
Resources to Investigate
SUBJECT MATTER EXPERT: [fill out table below]
Reviewer | Date | Comments |
Sources
- ^ https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2018/p0306-vs-opioids-overdoses.html
- ^ https://www.centerforhealthjournalism.org/fellowships/projects/how-er-docs-could-play-key-role-fighting-opioid-epidemic
- ^ https://www.centerforhealthjournalism.org/fellowships/projects/how-er-docs-could-play-key-role-fighting-opioid-epidemic
- ^ https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2018/p0306-vs-opioids-overdoses.html