Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis, Md., has plans to reduce the number of opioids prescribed by 50 percent by 2019, according to Washington's Top News.
Here are five insights:
1. Last year, the hospital conducted a study on the prescribing patters of physicians in the emergency room, primary care and orthopedics and sports medicine programs. The study found numerous variations in the number of opiods prescribed from physician to physician.
2. As of recent, the hospital has reduced opioid prescriptions by nearly 60 percent in both the emergency room and orthopedics and sports medicine departments.
3. Anne Arundel Medical Center's primary care physicians have decreased opioid prescriptions by 25 percent.
4. Through these efforts Anne Arundel Medical Center has not seen any change in patient satisfaction. The hospital's goal is not to deny patients who need opioids prescriptions, rather to rightsize prescriptions.
5. The hospital hopes to begin expanding these efforts into other departments; however, cancer patients and patients receiving end-of-life care are excluded.