July 30, 2019
COLUMBUS, Ohio – As part of a one-day training event to help fight Ohio’s opioid epidemic, physicians, physician assistants and nurse practitioners will be trained to provide medication-assisted treatments in various settings – including inpatient acute care hospitals, emergency departments, Obstetric/Gynecologic practices and primary care offices – for people with opioid use disorders.
A key message these healthcare providers will hear during the inaugural training event hosted by the Healthy State Alliance – a strategic partnership of The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and Mercy Health – is that addressing addiction should be part of everyone’s practice, not just something for a select few specialists to address.
The event will feature addiction experts from The Ohio State University College of Medicine and Mercy Health on topics including current state efforts to reduce opioid use, an introduction to the American Society of Addiction Medicine levels of care and evidence-based interventions for opioid use disorders.
The Healthy State Alliance’s objective is to improve population health across the state and to reduce opioid use, including to reduce opioid prescriptions and opioid-related overdoses.
Ohio, like the rest of the United States, is experiencing unprecedented rates of opioid use disorder and opioid overdoses. In 2017, Ohio had the second highest rate of drug-related overdose deaths at 46.3 per 100,000 persons, which is over twice the national average rate.
While there are new treatments being developed, many providers lack education on the latest developments and are not adept at integrating addiction medicine into their practice, or in multiple settings including the emergency department, inpatient hospital, and outpatient settings.
The daylong event will be held Wednesday at the Greater Columbus Convention Center, 400 N. High St., Columbus, during the Addiction Studies Institute conference.
Media should call the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center Media Relations office at 614-293-3737 to make arrangements to cover this event.
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Media Contact: Eileen Scahill, Wexner Medical Center, 614-293-3737, Eileen.Scahill@osumc.edu
Media Contact: Nanette Bentley, Bon Secours Mercy Health, 513-952-4713, nbentley@mercy.com