The CO's CURE Initiative
Colorado’s Opioid Solution: Clinicians United to Resolve the Epidemic
In 2019, Colorado Hospital Association, Colorado Medical Society and Colorado Consortium for Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention launched a new initiative designed to address the opioid epidemic – Colorado’s Opioid Solution: Clinicians United to Resolve the Epidemic (CO’s CURE). CO’s CURE brought together diverse clinical specialties, all committed to resolving the opioid epidemic in Colorado through the development of opioid prescribing guidelines that seek to treat patients’ pain more effectively while reducing unnecessary exposure to opioids.
CO's CURE Opioid Prescribing Guidelines
Vision Statement
The specialty societies of Colorado develop the nation’s first comprehensive, multispecialty medical guidelines to address and resolve the opioid epidemic in Colorado.
Project Background
In 2017, the Colorado Chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians developed a set of guidelines to inform emergency departments (EDs) on how to holistically address the opioid epidemic. Among other recommendations, these guidelines encouraged the use of alternatives to opioids (ALTOs) as a first line of defense for treating painful conditions before resorting to opioids. Colorado Hospital Association (CHA), with the help of its partner organizations, launched a six-month pilot study of these guidelines in 10 EDs, which demonstrated an average 36 percent reduction in opioid administrations and 31 percent increase in the use of ALTOs. The pilot has since been expanded into the Colorado ALTO Project and rolled out across the state and beyond.
CO’s CURE Materials
CO’s CURE Leadership
This initiative is proudly co-sponsored by Colorado Hospital Association, Colorado Medical Society and Colorado Consortium for Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention.
CO's CURE Funding
This initiative was made possible by State Opioid Response federal grant funding administered by the Colorado Department of Human Services, Office of Behavioral Health.