Colorado Hospital Association Launches Hospital Medicine Opioid Safety Pilot in 10 Colorado Hospitals
GREENWOOD VILLAGE, COLO. – Oct. 1, 2019 – Today, Colorado Hospital Association (CHA) announced the start of the Colorado Opioid Solution: Clinicians United to Resolve the Epidemic (CO’s CURE) Hospital Medicine Pilot – a new patient safety initiative in 10 hospitals across Colorado. The pilot will test the efficacy of new opioid prescribing guidelines, developed by CHA and the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Society of Hospital Medicine, to treat patients’ pain in the inpatient setting.
The new prescribing guidelines emphasize the use of alternatives to opioids (ALTOs) as the first-line treatment for painful conditions in the inpatient setting. The six-month pilot will conclude March 31, 2020. The hospitals participating in the Hospital Medicine Pilot are:
- Gunnison Valley Health
- Longmont United Hospital
- Lutheran Medical Center
- Rio Grande Hospital
- San Luis Valley Health
- Sky Ridge Medical Center
- Spanish Peaks Regional Medical Center
- Anthony North Health Campus
- UCHealth Yampa Valley Medical Center
- University of Colorado Hospital
The CO’s CURE Hospital Medicine Pilot builds upon the success seen in the 2017 Colorado Emergency Department Opioid Safety Pilot, during which 10 Colorado emergency departments achieved a significant reduction in opioid administrations and an increase in ALTO administrations.
“After we saw the dramatic results from the emergency department pilot in 2017, our next thought was to expand the reach of the program to patients in other care locations – focusing on hospital medicine first,” said Darlene Tad-y, MD, SFHM, CHA vice president of clinical affairs. “We believe these guidelines will allow hospitalists within the pilot sites to treat their patients’ pain effectively while limiting the exposure to potentially dangerous opioids.”
CO’s CURE partners Colorado hospitals with the state’s medical specialty societies to develop the nation’s first comprehensive, multispecialty medical guidelines for limiting opioid use and increasing the use of ALTOs. Other specialties that have partnered with the CO’s CURE initiative are developing specialty-specific prescribing guidelines and will begin the piloting phase later next year.
CO’s CURE is co-led by CHA, the Colorado Consortium for Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention and the Colorado Medical Society.
About Colorado Hospital Association
Colorado Hospital Association (CHA) is the leading voice of Colorado’s hospital and health system community. Representing more than 100 member hospitals and health systems throughout the state, CHA serves as a trusted, credible and reliable resource on health issues, hospital data and trends for its members, media, policymakers and the general public. Through CHA, Colorado’s hospitals and health systems work together in their shared commitment to improve health and health care in Colorado. For more information, visit www.cha.com.
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