BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company), a global medical technology company, today released a first-of-its-kind report based on an independent national survey that examines drug diversion in U.S. hospitals, an underreported contributor to the opioid epidemic.Defining Hospital Drug DiversionHospital drug diversion, when a healthcare worker “diverts” opiates or other controlled substances away from patients for personal use or sale remains a significant challenge that is largely underdiscussed. Left
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Redox Integrates With OpiSafe to Provide Opioid Risk Reduction Services Nationwide
Redox, a health data integration platform, today announced an integration partnership with OpiSafe to expand the use of OpiSafe’s comprehensive pain medication management web and mobile platform to help thousands of providers across the country prescribe and treat pain more effectively while avoiding bad outcomes.Integration BenefitsThe opioid epidemic requires innovative approaches and the digital health industry is taking steps to make inroads against this crisis. As part of the partnership,
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Georgia Integrates Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs with EHRs Statewide
Appriss Health announced that Georgia is integrating its prescription drug monitoring programs into EHR systems of all prescribers across the state with Appriss Health’s PMP Gateway solution. This is being made possible by a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention grant – so all prescribers can instantly access prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP) information directly in the clinical workflow.Substance use disorder (SUD) is estimated to affect 21 million people, according to a report
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Cerner Integrates EHR to Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs in 46 States
As states mandate the physician’s review of prescription drug data, it is increasingly important that they can quickly access critical drug information directly within a person’s electronic health record (EHR). Today, Cerner has announced that it will launch a nationwide connection from the EHR to each state’s prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP), creating quicker and more efficient access through a partnership with medication management provider DrFirst. In partnership with DrFirst,
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Wolters Kluwer Launches Opioid Toolkit To Address Opioid Crisis in Clinic & Home
Wolters Kluwer is launching a comprehensive toolkit for opioid taskforces in healthcare systems and pharmacy chains to address clinical variability in opioid-related pain therapy care and stem the tide of the opioid epidemic. With over 130 people dying from opioid overdoses every day, health systems around the United States are implementing cross-functional opioid task force teams to reduce overdoses, treat dependence and addiction, and prevent iatrogenic opioid use disorder that may start
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1 in 10 Americans Have Offered Unused Opioids to Family and Friends
One in 10 Americans admits they’ve offered or given their unused prescription drugs to a friend or family member for either medical or recreational use, according to findings from a new consumer study conducted by Stericycle, a provider of highly specialized compliance-based healthcare and waste solutions. Despite that, a majority of Americans (75%) believe that people sharing or selling their unused prescriptions, including opioids (e.g., oxycodone, hydrocodone, morphine) is contributing to the
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Partners HealthCare Integrates MassPAT with Epic EHR to Curb Opioid Abuse
Partners HealthCare today has fully integrated the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ Prescription Awareness Tool (MassPAT) directly into it's Epic electronic health record (EHR) system. The integration marks Partners as the first healthcare network to have the tool immediately available to clinicians at the point-of-care and demonstrating a significant step forward in the Commonwealth’s efforts to align health care providers across Massachusetts on a common platform to monitor opioid
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Can Optimized EHR Data Help Healthcare Combat the Opioid Epidemic?
DrFirst’s Nick Barger explains how the EHR data at the right time can prevent opioids from getting into the wrong hands.While the debate on how to combat the infiltration and abuse of illegal narcotics in the U.S. languished for decades, something more sinister and formidable was growing. This new threat was not lurking in the shadows; instead, it was right under the noses and prescription pads of physicians— opioids.The abuse of prescription opioids has now become a national public health
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Optimizing Opioid Management Through Health IT
From cancer care and chronic pain management to emergency care, dental care and episodic pain management – the use of opioids have reached a national platform because of its potentially devastating effects.The CDC reports the significance of its rise in the U.S.:- From 1999 to 2017, almost 400,000 people died from an overdose involving an opioid, including prescription and illicit opioids.- Around 68% of the more than 70,200 drug overdose deaths in 2017 involved an opioid.- In 2017, the number
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DrFirst Launches CURES 2.0 Integration Through MEDITECH EHR
Today, DrFirst unveiled its new integrated solution which enables easy access via MEDITECH EHR to California state databases to red-flag opioid ‘doctor shopping’ and reduce overall drug abuse. This newest initiative in DrFirst’s long-time fight to end the opioid epidemic is point-of-care technology that seamlessly connects MEDITECH’s EHR system and California’s prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP).Importance of CURES 2.0 integrationThis new CURES 2.0 integration is critical because it
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