Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • ESG: THE NEW IMPERATIVE
Subscribe
  • My Account
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Current News
    • COVID-19
    • Providers
    • Insurance
    • Government
    • Finance
    • Technology
    • Safety & Quality
    • Transformation
    • People
    • Regional News
    • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Patients
    • Operations
    • Care Delivery
    • Payment
    • Midwest
    • Northeast
    • South
    • West
  • Digital Health
  • Insights
    • ACA 10 Years After
    • Best Practices
    • Special Reports
    • Innovations
  • Data/Lists
    • Rankings/Lists
    • Interactive Databases
    • Data Points
  • Opinion
    • Bold Moves
    • Breaking Bias
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Vital Signs Blog
    • From the Editor
  • Events & Awards
    • Awards
    • Conferences
    • Galas
    • Virtual Briefings
    • Custom Media Event: ESG Summit
    • Webinars
    • Nominate/Eligibility
    • 100 Most Influential People
    • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
    • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
    • Excellence in Governance
    • Health Care Hall of Fame
    • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
    • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
    • Top 25 Innovators
    • Diversity in Healthcare
      • - Luminaries
      • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
      • - Leaders to Watch
    • Women in Healthcare
      • - Luminaries
      • - Top 25 Women Leaders
      • - Women to Watch
    • Leadership Symposium
    • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
    • Transformation Summit
    • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
    • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
    • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
    • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
    • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
    • - Hospital of the Future
    • - Value Based Care
    • - Supply Chain Revenue Cycle
    • - Hospital at Home
    • - Workplace of the Future
    • - Virtual Health
    • - Future of Healthcare Staffing
  • Multimedia
    • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
    • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
    • Video Series - The Check Up
    • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
  • MORE +
    • Advertise
    • Media Kit
    • Newsletters
    • Jobs
    • People on the Move
    • Reprints & Licensing
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Providers
June 09, 2018 01:00 AM

Rural hospitals take aim at root causes of opioid crisis

Lola Butcher
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print

    If a person experiences an opioid overdose in rural Maine, it can take up to 30 minutes for emergency medical responders to arrive—and that may be too late. That's why MaineGeneral Medical Center in Augusta works to identify individuals at risk of an overdose and provide them with the opioid antidote and information that might keep them alive if it occurs.

    The strategy, designed to keep addicted individuals alive until America's opioid epidemic subsides, is one of hundreds developed by rural healthcare providers to address the specific needs of their communities.

    MaineGeneral serves two rural counties with a combined population of about 175,000; Kennebec County saw 43 opioid deaths in 2017, and Somerset County had 16 during that time. Health educator Shane Gallagher works at MaineGeneral giving overdose-prevention classes at homeless shelters and addiction-recovery centers and serving high-risk individuals through a needle-exchange program, referrals for treatment, HIV and hepatitis C testing and other services.

    “Both within my department but also other departments across the system—primary care, emergency rooms, specialties—we're all actively participating in various initiatives that are local and regional and at the state level,” Gallagher said.

    Urban populations have higher rates of opioid abuse in the past 12 months than rural communities, but more rural people die as a result of opioid-induced overdose. The reasons are many—among them an inadequate supply of emergency naloxone devices, longer response times of first responders and a lack of substance-abuse treatment options in rural communities.

    Cultural factors may also be at play. Rural opioid users are more likely to be uninsured and to have limited education, low income and poor health status, factors that may affect their ability to seek treatment and maintain recovery.

    Drug deaths in Maine

    In Maury County, Tenn. (population 81,000), 15 people died of opioid overdoses in 2016, up from nine in 2015 and just one in 2014. Heroin-overdose deaths didn't show up there until 2016, when two occurred. Earlier this year, three people died from heroin in one day.

    “That was a difficult 24 hours for us,” said Dr. Christopher Edwards, chief medical officer at Maury General Health, a three-hospital system based in Columbia, Tenn.

    Despite the disturbing trend, Edwards finds hope in systemic efforts to address the root causes of the opioid crisis. He serves on the Commission on Pain and Addiction Medicine Education, which is part of Tennessee's statewide multipronged plan to tackle the opioid epidemic. The commission is developing curricula for medical and nursing schools so students learn the proper use of opioids, he said.

    The statewide plan also calls for educating current healthcare providers. Although opioid prescription rates have dropped by about 25% in Tennessee in the past five years, it ranks among the highest-prescribing states in the nation. “We've all been brought up prescribing opioids, and we were taught years ago that the long-acting opioids were not addictive,” Edwards said. “Now we're having to unteach those things.”

    Part of the education is that “opioid naive” patients can become addicted with the first dose; another part is that alternatives to opioids can actually treat pain more effectively. “I'm very encouraged that (opioids) won't be introduced as much to the post-operative patients, dental-pain patients and obstetrical patients,” Edwards said.

    Maury General Medical Center and MaineGeneral both received federal grants in 2015 to foster a community approach to address the opioid crisis. An evaluation of the Rural Opioid Overdose Reversal Grant program found that developing a partnership among various stakeholders is essential but not necessarily easy. Often, law enforcement agencies, first responders and advocacy organizations have no experience in collaborating with healthcare providers.

    “A major piece (of the grant-funded work) was to get the conversation started on a broader level,” Gallagher said.

    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Send us a letter

    Have an opinion about this story? Click here to submit a Letter to the Editor, and we may publish it in print.

    Recommended for You
    colorful-people_i_i.png
    The Joint Commission to add health equity standards to accreditations
    Supporting a truly diverse C-suite
    Supporting a truly diverse C-suite
    Sponsored Content
    Modern Healthcare A.M. Newsletter: Sign up to receive a comprehensive weekday morning newsletter designed for busy healthcare executives who need the latest and most important healthcare news and analysis.
    Get Newsletters

    Sign up for enewsletters and alerts to receive breaking news and in-depth coverage of healthcare events and trends, as they happen, right to your inbox.

    Subscribe Today
    MH Magazine Cover

    MH magazine offers content that sheds light on healthcare leaders’ complex choices and touch points—from strategy, governance, leadership development and finance to operations, clinical care, and marketing.

    Subscribe
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS

    Our Mission

    Modern Healthcare empowers industry leaders to succeed by providing unbiased reporting of the news, insights, analysis and data.

    Contact Us

    (877) 812-1581

    Email us

     

    Resources
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise with Us
    • Ad Choices Ad Choices
    • Sitemap
    Editorial Dept
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Code of Ethics
    • Awards
    • About Us
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Modern Healthcare
    Copyright © 1996-2022. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Current News
      • COVID-19
      • Providers
      • Insurance
      • Government
      • Finance
      • Technology
      • Safety & Quality
      • Transformation
        • Patients
        • Operations
        • Care Delivery
        • Payment
      • People
      • Regional News
        • Midwest
        • Northeast
        • South
        • West
      • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Digital Health
    • Insights
      • ACA 10 Years After
      • Best Practices
      • Special Reports
      • Innovations
    • Data/Lists
      • Rankings/Lists
      • Interactive Databases
      • Data Points
    • Opinion
      • Bold Moves
      • Breaking Bias
      • Commentaries
      • Letters
      • Vital Signs Blog
      • From the Editor
    • Events & Awards
      • Awards
        • Nominate/Eligibility
        • 100 Most Influential People
        • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
        • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
        • Excellence in Governance
        • Health Care Hall of Fame
        • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
        • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
        • Top 25 Innovators
        • Diversity in Healthcare
          • - Luminaries
          • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
          • - Leaders to Watch
        • Women in Healthcare
          • - Luminaries
          • - Top 25 Women Leaders
          • - Women to Watch
      • Conferences
        • Leadership Symposium
        • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
        • Transformation Summit
        • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
      • Galas
        • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
        • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
        • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
        • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
      • Virtual Briefings
        • - Hospital of the Future
        • - Value Based Care
        • - Supply Chain Revenue Cycle
        • - Hospital at Home
        • - Workplace of the Future
        • - Virtual Health
        • - Future of Healthcare Staffing
      • Custom Media Event: ESG Summit
      • Webinars
    • Multimedia
      • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
      • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
      • Video Series - The Check Up
      • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
    • MORE +
      • Advertise
      • Media Kit
      • Newsletters
      • Jobs
      • People on the Move
      • Reprints & Licensing