The United States is in the midst of a public health epidemic, with more than 40 people dying each day from prescription opioid overdoses. Health care systems are implementing policy and practice interventions in an effort to address the opioid overdose epidemic. Kaiser Permanente’s Safe and Appropriate Opioid Prescribing Program was implemented in 2010, and is among the organization’s most successful efforts to address the problem of opioid addiction, not only for members, but for the communities in which it operates. The program is the focus of a study recently published in the Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice that shows a comprehensive, system-level strategy has the ability to positively affect opioid prescribing. ... |