CCO and Chuck Hofmann, MD, Baker City, plan to follow the model successfully deployed by Shames’ Southern Oregon Pain Guidance group. Also, an effort to enhance pharmacists’ role in the PDMP was announced in January. Oregon State University, Acumentra Health and Fred Meyer pharmacies are collaborating to develop and test a PDMP toolkit for use by pharmacists as part of their routine work flow. OSU’s Daniel Hartung, PharmD, MPH, says the toolkit is intended to help pharmacists identify patients at risk for harm by prescription opioids, communicate concerns with patients, and coordinate with the patient’s primary prescriber to ensure safer use of these medications. “Our toolkit will help pharmacists better integrate PDMP information into their practice and use it effectively to identify risky prescription patterns before dispensing a prescription,” said Hartung, who is leading the project, funded by the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Oregon Heath Leadership Council seeks to connect recommendations Recognizing the multiple disconnected efforts with similar goals, emergency physician Sharon Meieran, MD, JD, and Executive Committee member of the OMA and a Kaiser emergency physician, said the Oregon Health Leadership Council has convened an ad hoc work group, involving leaders from these various efforts, to bring together the separate recommendations. Meieran said the goal is to work together to develop overarching consistent statewide guidelines for opioid prescribing; pursue education for providers and the public about the risks of prescription opioids, provide appropriate prescribing practices; as well as discuss alternatives to opioids so people will have access to other modalities of treatment when they are The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recorded that some 19,000 Americans died in 2014 from overdoses of prescription painkillers, compared with 10,600 who died from heroin overdoses. suffering from chronic pain. Discussions will include availability of addictions treatment, medication-assisted treatment, use of Naloxone as a rescue medication, and increasing accessibility of holistic pain management. V “This group has already made some significant strides, and the OMA is taking on a significant role in terms of educating prescribers and the public,” Meieran said. “Given that health care providers play such a crucial role in ensuring the health and continues w ww.TheOMA.org Winter 2016 13
OMA Medicine in OR Winter 2015 2016
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