The 169-bed Chesire Medical Center/Dartmouth-Hitchcock Keene (N.H.) acute-care hospital launched a new system to reduce prescription opioid abuse, an issue which has escalated to epidemic levels in New Hampshire and may contribute to the area's heroin problem, according to health officials, The Keene Sentinel reported.
Admissions to prescription opioid abuse treatment programs increased 500 percent in the last 10 years in New Hampshire due to overprescribing and "doctor shopping," when patients call for extra refills or seek the drugs from multiple providers and pharmacies, according to the report.
The new system will track which patients are prescribed the pain killers and how much they are prescribed. Providers will use a risk assessment tool, which includes a pain assessment and drug screening, before prescribing pain killers to patients. High-risk patients will receive closer monitoring with more frequent follow ups and screenings, according to the report.
The program collaborates with Monadnock Family Services and Phoenix House, a local substance abuse treatment and recovery center, to help address the issue at the community level.
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