New effort aims to prevent surgery-related opioid addiction across Michigan
With a new $1.4 million per year, five-year grant from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, and equal funding from U-M, the team today launches an initiative to help medical teams across the state care for surgical patients' pain -- without setting those patients up for new chronic opioid use, misuse and addiction. Named the Michigan Opioid Prescribing Engagement Network , or Michigan-OPEN, the effort aims to cut in half both the amount of opioids prescribed to Michigan surgical patients, and the number of patients who still use opioids many months after surgery. Michigan-OPEN will tap into existing networks of hundreds of doctors, nurses and hospitals across Michigan that work together to improve surgical care. It's based in the U-M Medical School and Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation. The team will help members of 12 such networks understand and use best practices for pain control in their patients, including the wisest use of opioid pain...