Premier supports efforts by offering strategies, solutions and
resources to curb opioid use, including repository of pain management
alternatives; data-driven reports on opioid practice patterns; and care
redesign initiatives to reduce addiction, overuse and misuse
CHARLOTTE, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Healthcare providers are continuing to take action to address the opioid
epidemic, according to a recent C-Suite survey from Premier Inc.
(NASDAQ: PINC). Approximately 90 percent of C-Suite leaders from Premier
member health systems are prioritizing strategies to curb opioid use.
According to the survey, the majority of C-Suite leaders are focusing
their efforts on conducting patient assessments with standardized tools
upon admission to evaluate pain levels, staff education on resources for
safe opioid use and alternative methods for pain relief. Leaders also
suggested they are engaging in patient education on pain management
treatment and the safe use of opioids; collaborating with state, local
and community partners; and using technology for clinical decision
support, patient alerts, prescribing practices and continuous electronic
monitoring of patient-controlled analgesia.
“With the number of people dying from opioid overdoses quadrupling since
1999 and the death toll continuing to climb, the President has deemed
the opioid epidemic a public health emergency,” said Susan DeVore,
president and CEO at Premier. “Premier and its members are continuing to
take significant steps to improve pain management efforts, and reduce
addiction, overuse and misuse by spreading and scaling tools, resources
and practices focused on improving healthcare quality and patient
safety.”
Premier has launched a series of efforts to address the opioid epidemic
and make care safer. This includes a recently-published Safer
Pain Management Toolkit for its members, which provides information
on the history of opioids abuse, inappropriate access, and patient
safety and pain management methods to improve care delivery processes.
The toolkit also provides:
-
A repository of all Premier group purchasing contracts, suppliers,
services and programs in the pain management space. Premier members
can access this resource through its integrated intelligence platform
PremierConnect®. The toolkit supports provider efforts to
improve prescribing practices, opioid use in the hospital and patient
safety through alternative methods and medications. Premier members
can easily search for alternative therapies, as well as devices that
monitor oxygen and carbon dioxide levels to avoid respiratory-related
side effects, and infection prevention treatments to improve the
immune system’s response to opioids.
-
A Premier data analysis of opioid visits, utilization and prescribing
practices in the emergency department across nearly 650 hospitals.
Premier also provides its members with individual reports on these
measures to help leaders easily benchmark internal practice patterns
against national data.
Hospitals in Premier’s Hospital Improvement Innovation Network (HIIN),
part of the Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services Partnership for
Patients program, are participating in an initiative to measurably
improve pain management among providers, clinicians and
patients/families. To continue to improve opioid stewardship within the
inpatient setting, Premier recently launched the national safer
post-operative pain management pilot program with more than 30
hospitals to test and redesign new care delivery processes to better
manage pain and the potential for drug addiction.
Additionally, Premier offers medication surveillance solutions that
provide real-time alerts on high-risk drugs and potentially dangerous
drug combination interactions, as well as monitors patients prescribed
high-dose long acting/extended release opioids. These solutions also
provide recommendations for co-prescribing naloxone, and educational
tools for patient and family naloxone use prior to discharge.
Premier and its members are strong
advocates for improving regulations and policies to help tackle the
opioid epidemic, including legislation to remove limits around care
coordination for addiction. More information on Premier’s efforts to
address the opioid epidemic, including Premier research and strategies
for improvement, can be found on the Premier
Safety Institute website.
Survey Methodology
The survey was conducted online, with the results based off responses of
49 healthcare C-suite leaders (CEO, COO, CMO, CFO, CIO or CTIO) from
September 20 – October 16, 2017. Participants were selected and invited
to join the panel by Premier prior to survey administration.
About Premier Inc.
Premier Inc. (NASDAQ: PINC) is a leading healthcare improvement company,
uniting an alliance of approximately 3,900 U.S. hospitals and health
systems and approximately 150,000 other providers and organizations.
With integrated data and analytics, collaboratives, supply chain
solutions, and advisory and other services, Premier enables better care
and outcomes at a lower cost. Premier, a Malcolm Baldrige National
Quality Award recipient, plays a critical role in the rapidly evolving
healthcare industry, collaborating with members to co-develop long-term
innovations that reinvent and improve the way care is delivered to
patients nationwide. Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Premier is
passionate about transforming American healthcare. Please visit
Premier’s news and investor sites on www.premierinc.com;
as well as Twitter,
Facebook,
LinkedIn,
YouTube,
Instagram
and Premier’s
blog for more information about the company.
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Source: Premier Inc.