Prescription Task Force Narrowing our Focus
During July coalition meeting we narrowed our focus down to the following general areas:
During July coalition meeting we narrowed our focus down to the following general areas:
(1) Doctor Education (Addressing Provider Lack of Knowledge):
- Contracting with Health Insight to educate physicians directly
- Revising DOPL narcotic licensing test.
(2) Reduce Availability:
- Revising DOPL to allow better communication between law enforcement, and the health community
- Require doctors to run a DOPL report on all first time patients obtaining narcotics
(3) Community Norms:
- Create an education campaign like Clean out the Cabinet to change norms around prescription abuse and disposal
Do you agree with these recommendations? What would you add/remove? Add your comments to the blog. Please consider our one page fact sheets and recommendations at: http://sites.google.com/site/utahcountycoalition/data---what-we-know-1.
CRITERIA - this is hard to narrow down good ideas to a few our coalition can tackle. As you offer your suggestions consider the following (to obtain funding, each idea must pass this criteria test):
- Is the strategy supported by the data we collect?
- Is the strategy evidenced based? How do we know the strategy will reduce prescription abuse?
- Is the strategy realistic considering the financial and human resources available to the coalition?
- Does the strategy already exist or are other groups working to implement the strategy?
Thanks for your input!
SMART Management Team
SMART Management Team
6 comments:
Comment from GREG ROMRELL here are my priorities:
1. CMDB- Updates for Law Enforcement, Doctor Flagging, Digital Photos etc.
2. Licensing- Update tests and requirements for renewal
3. Pharmacy protocol- How to make the way to get higher scheduled drugs harder to get
4. Health Insight- Get the info out, try to make it more efficient
5. Drop Boxes/ Clean Out the Cabinet or other similar programs.
KEVIN SHOLTZ said here are my priorities:
1. Requiring that prescribers of painkillers take a test to update their
knowledge of the appropriate use and dangers of prescription narcotics. I
think it would be great if it were a CEU program that needed to be fulfilled
every couple of years.
2. Update/integrate the DOPL database to help identify drug shoppers and
over prescribers by requiring that it logged into as part of the prescribing
protocol.
3. Revise prescribing guidelines to limit the total number of dosages
prescribed/dispensed at one time.
4. Require pharmacist to counsel with customers concerning the proper use
and dangers associated with the prescribed medication. This counseling
should include information about the dangers of keeping unused dosages
around the home, and how to dispose of them properly.
5. Work to establish pharmacy "take-back" programs. Programs might include
incentives such as a discount on the next prescription as unused dosages for
the previous are returned. I think that this approach will be far more
effective in the long run as opposed to "drop boxes", not only safer and
easier to manage, but improved chance of participation by the public as it
helps their pocketbook.
6. Launch a county wide informational "Clean Out The Cabinet" campaign to
accomplish the following:
a. Help citizens understand that their medicine cabinets are a
significant source of supply for the prescription drugs which are
being abused.
b. Help citizens understand the nature of, and methods used by the
prescription drug abuse culture so that they can protect themselves,
family, and friends.
c. Help citizens understand that these prescription drugs should
either be disposed of or locked up.
d. Help citizens understand that prescription drugs should be
properly disposed of, and how to do so.
e. Help citizens understand the legalities of using prescription
drugs properly.
f. Help citizens understand that prescription drugs are every bit
as dangerous as illicit drugs when used improperly.
I really think that he measures that I have noted above would do much to
limit the availability of prescription drugs to be abused. If you cut off
the supply, you largely eliminate the problem.
CASEY CHRISTOPHERSON said the following:
Recommendations:
1) One thing that jumped out at me was the fact that 16 year old workers can sell beer in Utah County. Is that true? That is crazy. That is something that needs to be changed.
2) The area in which there needs to be change appears to be in the laws involving those few individuals who choose to continue to drink and drive. We need to make it very uncomfortable for those people whether that is through financial penalties or other ways. That is one way, I feel, change would happen. I think the focus of the attention needs to be on that area.
I propose we work w/ Rep Daw to 1)legislate an educational quiz to be taken by prescribers at the time of renewel of their DOPL license, 2)add requirements for medical license renewal to include mandated number hours out of the required 150 hours every 3 yrs to include, say 10 hours of narcotic prescribing CME, 3) allow DOPL CSDB (controlled substance data base) to list prescription drug related DUI and 4) to allow police officers to contact prescribing providers concerning new narcotic DUI's.
Perhaps we could also identify Utah County providers via Utah Medical Association and Dental Association and employ Kim Bateman, MD to educate and get providers up to speed on DOPL CSDB. He has agreed to volunteer his time in this effort but perhaps we can get better results if we employ him.
"Take Back" or "Drop Off" programs may not be effective or proven by research. Kye do we have any current info on what has been dropped off in these boxes?
Lastly, is Clean Out the Cabinet viable? I would like to see this or a similar program employed.
Don F.
Comment from SUZY YOUNG for her priorities:
1. Licensing- revamp test and administer more frequently
2. "Clean out the Cabinet" (or some sort of social marketing campaign)- My own add-in: Work with local LDS church authorities to announce this or read a letter in sacrament meetings
3. Working with Dr. Bateman- HealthInsight (similar to licensing I guess)
4. Photo ID
5. Require all new patients requesting prescription narcotics to have a DOPL report ran on them
Comments from MARIANNE STEPHENS - here are her priorities:
I think is important 1.educating doctors about the importance of their role in slowing down the flow of drugs to addicts is critically important. I also think
2. ID photos for all patients is important. (A doctor and hospital I visited recently took digital photos of all patients to have in their permanent patient record.)
3. Educating families re: the need to prevent substance abuse where ever possible instead of having to treat addiction for a lifetime.
4. Clean out the Cabinet--with the focus on preventing 'you from being your family's and neighborhood's drug dealer'. (I wonder if a great bill board would affects thousands).
5. Making DOPL usable and accessible to the doctors and their staff for use with all patients,
I hope this helps.
Thanks,
Marianne
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