Opioid Policy Analysis

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The opioid crisis in the United States has spiraled out of control, impacting the lives of many patients and wreaking havoc on our healthcare system. While the problem is far-reaching and seemingly difficult to isolate and pinpoint, there are many players in society that can enact new practices and policies to improve the way in which opioids are administered, and how to tackle the greater issue of opioid use and its ramifications to the patient after a hospital visit, from government agencies to the nonprofit organizations, and even law enforcement and insurance companies. In this policy analysis, the main player of interest is the healthcare system, which includes medical educators, primary care physicians, and inpatient emergency department …show more content…
As the comprising institutions that hold the knowledge of outcomes, risks, consequences, and treatment with use of opioids, the healthcare system has a responsibility to educate patients and others in the community on appropriate opioid use and management. This educational process can take place on multiple levels, from medical student education to community outreach. On the base of medical student education, medical schools and academic institutions must implement seminars on new research regarding opioid use, as well as clinical and interpersonal skills seminars to teach students how to disseminate information to patients. On a greater community level, members of the healthcare system need to reach out to educate patients on the benefits and side effects of opioids, as well as proper management technique and a treatment plan for opioid use. Additionally, there should be more regularly scheduled follow-ups for patients prescribed with opioids, to better assess dependence and re-titration to an acceptable dose. Finally, there should be greater access for patients to dispense of opioids, particularly on the side of local clinics and pharmacies. A policy to address this concept would be to increase the number and time access to drug disposal boxes in local pharmacies and clinics. Additionally, the process of drug disposal should be easier on the patient side, including an …show more content…
Primarily, educators in the medical school system assume greater responsibility and greater time commitment in terms of integrating opioid education for students, although the costs may be relatively small or non-existent in planning additional seminars. Additionally, physicians take on greater responsibility in determining treatment plans, scheduling follow-up visits, and assessing re-titration of opioid dosage. These steps are very time intensive and may take away from opportunities for other patient visits, resulting in an opportunity cost of lost money. Finally, increasing the availability of opioid disposal carries its own costs, particularly for pharmacies and local clinics. Both of these institutions will bear the cost, energy, and time to increase availability of the disposal systems, as well as create new documenting and verification processes for clinics and pharmacies that do not already have these systems in
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