Addressing the opioid use public health crisis
Key findings include:
Maternal mortality rates in Washington have historically been lower than national rates. However, critical disparities persist by race and ethnicity. In Washington, the Panel found 80 percent of pregnancy-related deaths were preventable.
A 2021 report in Health Affairs describing the characteristics of pregnancy-related deaths due to mental health conditions from 2008-2017. This report includes data from 14 state Maternal Mortality Review Committees: Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Utah.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, primary care physicians should provide opioid therapy for their patients through telehealth visits using two-way video such as Skype or FaceTime, or by telephone, according to a new guide issued by the AHRQ-funded Six Building Blocks program.
At epidemic levels in Washington State and across the country, opioid use disorder is a public health issue impacting state and local government, communities, health systems and, most importantly, individuals and families.
In response to 694 deaths due to opioid overdose in Washington in 2016, Governor Inslee issued Executive Order 16-09, directing state agencies to implement an opioid response plan to:
Treatment of pain varies widely between systems and clinicians with high financial and human cost. Moving to a collaborative or team-based approach to managing complex pain has been shown to result in better patient outcomes.
However, most approaches to pain management including chronic opioid therapy involved siloed health care providers. This workgroup met from January 2018 to January 2019 and defined minimum standards for:
Providing education and training at a local level for evidence-based practices in the prevention, treatment and recovery of opioid use disorders, the State Targeted Response Technical Assistance Consortium (STR-TA), funded by SAMHSA, is a response from a large coalition of national professional organizations. The Opioid Response Network, ORN, provides local training and education free of charge for specific needs at a community level.
This website introduces the Six Building Blocks, provides tools and resources for improving care, and offers implementation guidance. The Six Building Blocks can help anyone who is interested in improving the care of patients using long-term opioid therapy.
The SAMHSA Opioid Overdose Prevention Toolkit - 2018 equips health care providers, communities, and local governments with material to develop practices and policies to help prevent opioid-related overdoses and deaths. It addresses issues for health care providers, first responders, treatment providers, and those recovering from opioid overdose.
Innovative and Integrated Treatment Models: Increasing Impact of Opioid Treatment Programs (OTPs) through Care Coordination
Webinar 2: Case Studies from the Field
1 to 2:30 p.m. ET, Thursday, May 10
The CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain provides recommendations for safer and more effective prescribing of opioids for chronic pain in patients 18 and older in outpatient settings outside of active cancer treatment, palliative care, and end-of-life care.
This online training series aims to help you apply CDC’s recommendations in your clinical setting through interactive patient scenarios, videos, knowledge checks, tips, and resources.