Content provided by Alexa Brett, Director of Client and Patient Experience.
Innovative COVID-19 response for substance use disorder patient care to support rural health access across Vermont.
COVID-19 has caused much uncertainty and anxiety for patients in our community especially around travel and viral exposure. The Aspenti Mobile Unit offers our clients an option to support their patients’ treatment plans through accessible and convenient testing services.
The Aspenti Mobile Unit follows safety guidelines to allow for the proper six foot social distancing and the highest level of infection prevention measures required by the Vermont Health Department. The mobile unit offers support at your doorstep for patients that are sheltering in place during the pandemic. Serving as an innovative solution for collection on wheels, it will make access to collections easier for patients who would otherwise struggle accessing patient centers.
Through the efforts of multiple departments, structural changes, route logistics and COVID-19 safety protocols were put into place to get the mobile unit up and running.
“The feedback for our new mobile collection solution from both patients and clients has been very positive. Patients feel comfortable with the COVID-19 safety protocols we have set in place. They like that this new option supports their recovery and is conveniently available close to home. Providers have expressed that they are thankful for this new mobile testing service which allows them to continue to follow their patients’ plan of care during the pandemic” Alexa Brett, Director of Client and Patient Experience, Aspenti Health
The Aspenti mobile Unit will be used Monday-Friday across the state of VT.
[post_title] => Aspenti Health™ launches a Mobile Unit for Urine Drug Testing Collections
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Digital Health Transformation and Alternative Delivery Models
Part one of a two part blog series on Care for Substance Use Disorder Populations during COVID-19.
Content provided by Jill S. Warrington, MD, PhD. Blog edited by Alexa De Vivo.
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to unprecedented changes globally, in our communities and in health care. Like a latex balloon that has been stretched and never bounces back to its original form, health care delivery will never be the same as we navigate through and past this emergent crisis.
The silver lining in this challenging global emergency has been the ingenuity and innovation across our country and our world. We have seen remarkable collaborations, accommodations and accelerated transformations.
Changes in health care delivery have spanned five domains of medical care. We have seen a transformation of digital health, ingenious alternatives to traditional care delivery models, adjustments in regulatory and payor strategies, an adoption of a population health approach to care and an increasing recognition of our patients’ unmet social and behavioral health needs. If progress continues in each of these domains, long-existing care gaps can be obliterated.
Digital health transformation and alternative delivery models are helping to pave the way for the future of healthcare, post COVID-19. While telehealth was being offered at most healthcare establishments in the pre-COVID-19 world, the spread of mandated stay at home orders prompted telehealth across the globe.
Large health systems such as Geisinger Health System and the Cleveland Clinic have reported a 5-10-fold increase in use of telehealth services (1). We’ve also witnessed adoption of novel strategies in surveillance and triage such as the use of Chat Bots to support patient symptom identification and facial scanners in hospitals to recognize fevers (1,2). Anecdotal reporting for the Substance Use Disorder (SUD) population suggests digital health solutions have reduced numbers of missed appointments (3).
Alternative delivery models were used before the introduction of COVID-19 but many health systems sped up the process of developing take home or remote methods for medical testing.
Prior to and in response to COVID-19, laboratory services were innovating in alternative care delivery models such as at-home blood draws (4), drone use in medical product delivery (5) and at home monitoring programs (6). Further development of these types of innovations will only be aided by COVID-19.
Part two of this blog series, "How is COVID-19 Redefining Care Delivery for the SUD Population?", will discuss regulatory shifts and population health adaption. It will also go over recognition of unmet social and behavioral health needs.
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SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt., Sept. 23, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Accreditation Committee of the College of American Pathologists (CAP) has awarded accreditation to Aspenti Health, South Burlington, VT based on results of a recent on-site inspection as part of the CAP's Accreditation Programs.
The facility's director, Jill Warrington, MD, PhD, and Aspenti Health Chief Medical Officer, was advised of this national recognition and congratulated for the excellence of the services being provided. Aspenti Health is one of more than 8,000 CAP-accredited facilities worldwide.
"The College of American Pathologists (CAP) is the gold standard in medical laboratory accreditation. Through this rigorous inspection process, CAP has certified that Aspenti health is meeting the highest standards in quality patient care," said Warrington.
Chris Powell, CEO of Aspenti Health, upon learning of the laboratory's accreditation, said: "We have strived from day one to lead the industry in quality and innovation. The CAP certification is a wonderful milestone along our journey to deliver on our promise of exceptional science. As we continue to evolve our offering and our support of the many lives on a journey of recovery and hope CAP will provide a clear set of guiding principles that says to our clients and patients we are committed to excellence and exceptional laboratory processes."
The U.S. federal government recognizes the CAP Laboratory Accreditation Program, begun in the early 1960s, as being equal-to or more-stringent-than the government's own inspection program.
During the CAP accreditation process, designed to ensure the highest standard of care for all laboratory patients, inspectors examine the laboratory's records and quality control of procedures for the preceding two years. CAP inspectors also examine laboratory staff qualifications, equipment, facilities, safety program and record, and overall management.
About the College of American Pathologists: As the world's largest organization of board-certified pathologists and leading provider of laboratory accreditation and proficiency testing programs, the College of American Pathologists (CAP) serves patients, pathologists, and the public by fostering and advocating excellence in the practice of pathology and laboratory medicine worldwide.
About Aspenti Health: Aspenti Health ™ is a healthcare company specifically designed to address population health for substance use and pain management. Through coordination of care technology, population health analytics, eLearning, and our state-of-the-art laboratory, Aspenti Health is the health engine physicians use to provide value-based, comprehensive care to optimize outcomes for their patients. For more information, please visit www.aspenti.com
Aspenti Health was established by a group of seasoned healthcare leaders who made a commitment to acquire a struggling toxicology lab in Burlington Vermont, three years ago. From the initial days, their vision was to leverage crucial lab data and supplement this vital information in addiction and care recovery with value services including software, health analytics, and leading-edge education. This paradigm shift for a lab, fueled by the opioid crisis and the broader impact that substance use disorder has on communities, families and personal friends, motivated them to innovate continuously and act differently than any other toxicology lab.
Aspenti Health ™ is the first lab designed to address population health for substance use and pain management patient through diagnostic and digital health solutions.
The Dedicated Duo
Aspenti’s CEO, Chris Powell, is a dynamic personality who has over 30 years of enriched experience in healthcare. He started his career with IBM as field sales professional before moving to IDX Systems Corporation, which was acquired by GE Healthcare in 2006. There, Chris worked as the Vice President and General Manager of GE Healthcare Americas Commercial Healthcare IT business, including the United States, Canada, and Central and South America. Chris left GE in 2011 and went on to become CEO at Precyse, a Health Information management (HIM) company that led the healthcare transition to the ICD-10 coding set. Under Chris’ leadership and growth, Precyse was acquired to form nThrive, a healthcare revenue cycle and service company, before coming to Aspenti Health.
Jill Warrington MD, PhD, is the Chief Medical Officer of the company has more than two decades of experience in the medical field with a focus on laboratory medicine and substance use care. She is passionate about the role that laboratories can play in optimizing clinical decision making and supporting clinical workflows. Her key areas of interest include driving appropriate utilization of testing services, integrating health analytics to inform care, and reducing administrative burden through automatization of unnecessary operational steps.
Distinctive Services and Solutions
Aspenti Health is a unique healthcare company in the substance use disorder (SUD) space. Being specifically designed to promote population health for substance use and pain management patients, Aspenti is a state-of the art laboratory that leverages innovative methods for urine drug screening and confirmation testing with wrap-around technology and services. The company is changing the standard of care for SUD patients through Care Coordination, Population-specific Health Analytics, and Education.
Aspenti’s Care Coordination tool, Aspenti Navigator a random testing engine schedules and notifies patients for random tested based on the frequency assigned. The company’s software solution alleviates the administrative strain of managing random testing. Aspenti Insights, powered by its advanced business analytics software and data analysts provides real time health analytics to help control costs and improve outcomes.
Identifying the ability of population health analytics to support community partners and directly impact patient care, Aspenti has an internal health analytics team and a versatile custom business analytic tool. Using laboratory data, it has deep insights on emerging drug trends, treatment adherence, and the frequency of unexpected findings. Aspenti leverages strategic partnerships to gain insights into social determinants of health and align those with emerging drug trends in a meaningful way to deliver the most impactful data.
Two of its unique analytics offerings are Patient Population Metrics Report, a quarterly report for providers presenting insights into ordering patterns and emerging drug trends. Another offering is Geospatial Mapping, which is designed to give visibility to community partners on county-level drug use demonstrating marked variability in buprenorphine adherence as well as in fentanyl and heroin use.
Aspenti IQ: A Trailblazing e-Learning Facility
Aspenti Health’s innovative eLearning offering, Aspenti IQ, leverages the superlative digital learning functionality with its unique subject matter expertise. It delivers CME/CNE accredited courses in clinical best practice, protocol, compliance, patient communication, and many more mission-critical subject areas. Of all the tools available to drive better care and prevent addiction before it starts, education is the company’s most powerful factor that transcends the entire spectrum of care touching not only patients and providers, but also families and friends. All Aspenti IQ courses are mobile-friendly and CME/CNE accredited. Each represents modern learning theory by utilizing micro-learning, scenarios-based concepts and video.
Aspenti was chosen as a national partner by HealthStream, the largest Healthcare learning management platform in the country, reaching more than 4,000 healthcare organizations and hosting 4.8 million users. Aspenti will be deploying education to the front lines of care, reinforcing the quality and impact of Aspenti’s eLearning solutions with content such as “Responsible Opioid Care and Pain Management Certification”. It is a 16 course micro-certification track featuring the subject matter such as foundations, compliance, opioid misuse, and pain management.
Outstanding Client Experience
Aspenti strives hard to maintain loyalty and satisfy its customers at every level. While talking about the same, the company shares one of its memorable client experiences.
“The strength of the partnership between Aspenti Health and the University of Vermont Health Network (UVMHN) lies in the alignment of our goals to improve people’s lives. Aspenti Health’s approach is broader than just performing drug testing, by asking what it really takes on a population level to reduce the impact of substance use disorder on people’s lives. The UVMHN Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine is working closely with Aspenti Health, sharing the expertise each of brings to solve this national crisis in new ways; using the UVMHN as a place to pilot innovative solutions with new testing methods, education for providers, patients and families, and data analytics to clarify barriers to individuals’ success. This is a novel addition to Vermont’s already successful hub and spoke model of care for substance use disorder. “- Debra Leonard, MD, PHD Chair, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at University of Vermont Medical Center
Abiding Core Values
Integrity is one of four core values of Aspenti along with innovation, inspiration, and inclusion. The company believes that it is the foundation of the quality and compliance programs that shapes the company. The role of integrity in the company’s operations enters into every aspect of the business model right from conducting its specimen collections and process testing for its patients and providers, to ensuring sound financial processes and compliance standards and interacting within organization and clients.
Apart from its core values, Aspenti considers the safety of its colleagues as a critical factor. Along with meeting the standards of key regulatory bodies including the New York State Department of Health, CLIA, and the College of American Pathologists (CAP), the company also invites state and local regulatory organizations to voluntarily inspect its lab. Also, in direct patient interactions, the company has well-trained its colleagues on aggression de-escalation and trauma-informed care to support a safe, non-confrontational environment.
Advanced and Secured Lab Equipment
Aspenti has a state-of-the lab art laboratory designed with a LEAN, linear workflow and reliant upon sophisticated Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) technology. This technology has been cited as a future of laboratory chemistries and requires highly specialized technical expertise to perform. The team of Aspenti has learned from related-disciplines of environmental toxicology, sports medicine, and forensic toxicology to build this focused clinical laboratory.
Language towards those with
substance use disorder is a crucial part of their recovery process. The words and
phrases we use frame the public perception on addiction and recovery, affecting
how individuals see themselves and their ability to change. How we address
those with substance use disorder can, intentionally or unintentionally, propel
stigma and create a mark of disgrace, dishonor and segregates the individual
from believing they can defeat their addiction.
Stigma decreases when the public
perceives individuals with addiction as not being responsible for causing
his/her problem and that they are unable to control it. Did you know that those
with substance use disorder are perceived more negatively than those with psychiatric
disabilities, although both are considered brain chemistry disorders?
By understanding that 50% of the
cause of addiction is genetics, and the rest is caused by the effects from the
substances on the nervous system, leading to changes in brain chemistry and
function that are impaired from use without the substance being present. Addiction
is technically a chronic brain disorder and while individuals affected can recover,
they need to have the utmost willpower to do so. Utilizing positive reinforcement
and language helps that recovery process initiate, especially coming from
doctors, family members, and counselors.
The accurate and clinical
terminology for someone battling addiction is a “Substance Use Disorder Patient”.
Some terms that can be perceived negatively are: “drug addict”, “abuser”, “junkie”,
“dope sick”, “substance abuser”.
Specifically, the use of language
towards someone with substance use disorder should include the following:
It should respect the dignity and worth of the
individual
Language should avoid negative stereotypes through
slang use
Promote the recovery process
Focus on the clinical nature of treatment and
the disorder
Why are words so important?
In 2015, around 20.8 million Americans
had an alcohol or drug use disorder. Additionally, 27.1 million people reported
illicit drug use in the past month. However, 89% of those individuals estimated
needed treatment did not receive any treatment services. While we cannot say
this is due to stigma, if you were labeled a certain way by admitting to having
an issue, would you seek out help?
It’s not on the same wavelength but
think back to elementary school and the kids wearing glasses. If they were
called “four eyes” on a consistent basis, did those kids choose to sit up close
in class and not utilize their glasses as much? Sure they did, they didn’t want
to face the stigma of not being considered “normal” by their peers.
We can work together to strike out stigma, and it starts with acceptance that addiction is not a choice. #StrikeOutStigma
Aspenti Health's summer campaign, "Strike Out Stigma", is focused on stigma reduction surrounding addiction.
What is stigma? Stigma is " a mark of disgrace associated with a particular circumstance, quality, or person." In the sense of addiction, it can prevent those affected from getting the help they need due to the judgment they may face from those around them. Addiction is a disease, and should be treated as such in society.
Stigma surrounding addiction causes powerful and damaging negative self-esteems to the person in need of help contributing to higher rates of mental health concerns, incarceration, and even death.
The 2014 National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that 21.5 million Americans age 12 and older had a substance use disorder in the previous year; however, sadly only 2.5 million received the specialized treatment they needed. While it’s not scientifically proven that these people did not get treatment because of stigma, the fact is that most insurances, housing facilities, and employment policies don’t offer help or support to those with drug addiction.
Recovery Brands asked a group in treatment for substance use
addiction to say some words on what they wished society would understand about
their condition (fig 1.).
Fig. 1
Stigma hurts those being affected by isolating them. It can cause mental
health ailments, self-harm, and an unwillingness to seek help or recovery
treatment. Of the individuals interviewed for the piece above, most cited stigma
coming from their loved ones, healthcare providers, and general society.
How can you help someone you know that has substance use disorder?
Offer them compassion, avoid using hurtful language that labels them, and see
them for who they really are, not just their addiction. If the person feels as
though you aren’t judging them, they’re more likely to open up to you which is
the first step in seeking out help. Please stay tuned for more blogs throughout
this summer on stigma reduction and stats surrounding stigma against those with
addiction disorder.
Sources:
Room, R. (2005). Stigma, social inequality and alcohol and drug use. Drug and alcohol review, 24(2), 143-155.
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Aspenti Health ™ was named the winner of the Clinical Lab 2.0 Innovation Award, honoring innovation excellence in the clinical laboratory industry. The award was presented before a prestigious panel of national clinical laboratory leaders by the Clinical Lab 2.0 Movement at the 24th Annual Executive War College Conference in New Orleans on May 2, 2019, the largest gathering of clinical laboratory executive leadership in the United States.
Aspenti Health ™ was named the winner of the Clinical Lab 2.0 Innovation Award, honoring innovation excellence in the clinical laboratory industry. The award was presented before a prestigious panel of national clinical laboratory leaders by the Clinical Lab 2.0 Movement at the 24th Annual Executive War College Conference in New Orleans on May 2, 2019, the largest gathering of clinical laboratory executive leadership in the United States.
Aspenti Health was granted the award for their work in the field, “Integration of the Clinical Laboratory and Social Determinants of Health in the Management of Substance Use.” This innovation presentation demonstrated Aspenti Health’s commitment to the Clinical Lab 2.0 movement to re-engineer the role of the clinical laboratory in the continuum of care, aligning with the future of value-based healthcare. Clinical Lab 2.0, a Santa Fe Project Foundation initiative, outlined award requirements to meet the following Clinical Lab 2.0 attributes; Risk Stratification by Population, Closure of Care Gaps, Lab Results as Early Detection and Lab Intervention for Improved Clinical Outcomes.
According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), social determinants of health (SDH) account for more than half of patient health and wellness. (1) For patients with substance use disorders, social determinants have a significant impact on their path to recovery. In collaboration, Aspenti Health, Staple Health and The University of Vermont Health Network, integrated routine medical laboratory testing with SDH to impact substance use care. Social determinants were assessed as predictors for laboratory findings, such as co-use of opioids and benzodiazepines. The project showed that where the laboratory result came from and the age of the patient were the two highest predictors of co-use in the substance use patient population. Through geospatial mapping, the project identified key geographic hotspots where co-use was more likely. Through predictive modeling, individual patient risk for co-use can be shared with providers to help empower providers in conversations to identify and mitigate patient risk at the point of care.
“This project, as well as all of the other cases that were presented, were quite strong and all were aligned with the mission of the Clinical Lab 2.0 Movement,” said Khosrow R. Shotorbani, President, Executive Director, Projects Santa Fe Foundation. “This movement transforms the analytic results from a laboratory into actionable intelligence at the patient visit in partnership with front-liners and clinicians – allowing for identification of patient risks and arming providers with insights to guide therapeutic interventions. Further, it reduces the administrative burden on providers by collecting SDH predictors in advance and tying them to outcomes of interest. By bringing SDH predictors to the office visit, it enables providers to engage in SDH without relying on their own data collection - a current care gap in many practices. The lab becomes a catalyst helping to manage the population we serve.”
The opioid epidemic continues to grip the United States. According to the CDC in 2017, there were more than 70,000 overdose deaths in the US, the highest number of drug overdose deaths for any single year in US history. (2) The CDC indicates that the increase in overdose deaths and a continued increase in suicides for the third year in a row has resulted in the recent decline in the US life expectancy. (3) And another first - for the first time in US History, according to the National Safety Association, overdose deaths exceed dying from a car crash. (4)
“We are thrilled to be recognized by Clinical Lab 2.0 and the panel of judges for our work serving the unique needs of substance use healthcare,” said Chris Powell, CEO of Aspenti Health, “and most importantly across our organization our unyielding commitment to employ innovations to solve for this crisis.”
[post_title] => Aspenti Health™ Wins Clinical Lab 2.0 Innovation Award Demonstrating the Clinical Laboratory as a First Responder to the Opioid Crisis
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[post_content] => On Monday, April 1st China announced it would ban all variants of fentanyl, a powerful opioid. This decision is crucial because it would slow the influx of illegal fentanyl supply coming into the United States.
[caption id="attachment_59694" align="alignright" width="194"] Xi Jinping[/caption]
Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, had made this pledge to President Trump late last year and the fact that it has come to fruition this quickly is an accomplishment for both nations in the war against opioids.
The export of fentanyl from China accounts for a majority of the drugs that end up in the US, and this has caused tension between the nations in the past. There are already some regulations in place that apply to 25 variants of fentanyl but a group of manufacturers have avoided the regulations by slightly changing the molecular structure to gain a legal loophole that allows them to export the drug without government assessment of medical use and safety.
Fentanyl, is a synthetic opioid that is exponentially stronger than morphine and was originally developed to help treat pain for cancer patients. However, the drug can easily be abused and added to heroin to increase it's high effects, or even disguised as heroin. Oftentimes, users will think they are purchasing heroin but are actually purchasing fentanyl, easily resulting in overdose deaths.
With opioid overdose deaths hitting the US in record numbers over the last few years, there is hope that this move can help alleviate the current state of the crisis and move towards a resolution.
References:
NPR (2019). "China To Close Loophole On Fentanyl After U.S. Calls For Opioid Action" https://www.npr.org/2019/04/01/708801717/china-to-close-loophole-on-fentanyl-after-u-s-calls-for-opioid-action
NY Times (2019). "China Bans All Types of Fentanyl, Cutting Supply of Deadly Drug to U.S. and Fulfilling Pledge to Trump." https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/01/world/asia/china-bans-fentanyl-trump.html
[post_title] => This Deadly Drug Is Now Banned In China...What Does It Mean for the US?
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[post_content] => Deaths related to opioid overdoses dropped from 35 (in Chittenden County) in 2017, to 17 deaths in 2018. That's a steady decline for Vermont's most populated county and the lowest level they have seen in six years. However, the rates across the rest of the counties in Vermont increased by 36 percent, totaling to 110 deaths this past year, which is up from 108 in 2017. That total is actually a new record for the state of Vermont.
The mayor of Burlington, Miro Weinberger, claims the decrease is due to the area's support of MAT, medication-assisted treatment, and joint efforts between Chittenden County Opioid Alliance, hospitals, and local law enforcement. For example, Burlington police have made a promise to not arrest those with buprenorphine found on them, a medication that is used to reduce symptoms of opioid withdrawal. Vermont uses a "hub and spoke" system for the MAT treatment, there are intensive treatment facilities acting as "hubs" and regional, local treatment that is continuous, "spokes".
Fentanyl-related deaths increased and the dangerous synthetic opioid was involved in 75 percent of the opioid related deaths last year. That number was triple the amount from 2015 and heroin was involved in 55 percent of the fatalities, often mixed with fentanyl. A majority of these deaths were accidental, and the remaining were not conclusive.
References:
Seven Days (2018)."Opioid Deaths Rise in Vermont but Plummet in Chittenden County" https://www.sevendaysvt.com/OffMessage/archives/2019/02/14/opioid-deaths-rise-in-vermont-but-plummet-in-chittenden-county
Burlington Free Press (2018). "Opioid Deaths down 50 percent in Chittenden County" https://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/news/2019/02/15/opioid-deaths-down-50-percent-chittenden-county-vermont/2882146002/
[post_title] => Opioid-Related Deaths Dropped 50 Percent in Chittenden County in 2018
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[post_content] => In the last five years, more than 1,600 Maine residents have died from a drug overdose. Governor Janet Mills has only been on the job for a few weeks, but she is planning to execute a lot of changes to alleviate drug overdoses in the state. In her first month. Mills recently named Gordon Smith the state’s first ever Director of Opioid Response, Smith being a long time medical lobbyist.
Where is Mills going to start battling the epidemic?
She believes more preventative measures must be put into action, like broadening the access to naloxone. Naloxone is an overdose reversal drug that can save the life of someone overdosing on opioids, but it can be costly to taxpayers. “We're preparing an executive order in that regard. Preparing some financial orders that may well help transfer some funds and draw down some federal funds that are already there to help address that problem,” Mills said in response to the potential increase in taxpayers costs.
Maine already has safe injection sites, but Mills is expanding access to those as well as getting more Main residents into substance use treatment centers. The numbers in Maine are staggering for overdose deaths, and it’s understandable why Governor Mills is taking such fast action. In 2017, Maine reported 418 drug overdose deaths and there were 180 deaths in the first 6 months of 2018.
Reference. 2018 https://wgme.com/news/local/gov-mills-takes-new-approach-to-solving-opioid-crisis WGME
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Content provided by Alexa Brett, Director of Client and Patient Experience.
Innovative COVID-19 response for substance use disorder patient care to support rural health access across Vermont.
COVID-19 has caused much uncertainty and anxiety for patients in our community especially around travel and viral exposure. The Aspenti Mobile Unit offers our clients an option to support their patients’ treatment plans through accessible and convenient testing services.
The Aspenti Mobile Unit follows safety guidelines to allow for the proper six foot social distancing and the highest level of infection prevention measures required by the Vermont Health Department. The mobile unit offers support at your doorstep for patients that are sheltering in place during the pandemic. Serving as an innovative solution for collection on wheels, it will make access to collections easier for patients who would otherwise struggle accessing patient centers.
Through the efforts of multiple departments, structural changes, route logistics and COVID-19 safety protocols were put into place to get the mobile unit up and running.
“The feedback for our new mobile collection solution from both patients and clients has been very positive. Patients feel comfortable with the COVID-19 safety protocols we have set in place. They like that this new option supports their recovery and is conveniently available close to home. Providers have expressed that they are thankful for this new mobile testing service which allows them to continue to follow their patients’ plan of care during the pandemic” Alexa Brett, Director of Client and Patient Experience, Aspenti Health
The Aspenti mobile Unit will be used Monday-Friday across the state of VT.
Xi Jinping[/caption]
Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, had made this pledge to President Trump late last year and the fact that it has come to fruition this quickly is an accomplishment for both nations in the war against opioids.
The export of fentanyl from China accounts for a majority of the drugs that end up in the US, and this has caused tension between the nations in the past. There are already some regulations in place that apply to 25 variants of fentanyl but a group of manufacturers have avoided the regulations by slightly changing the molecular structure to gain a legal loophole that allows them to export the drug without government assessment of medical use and safety.
Fentanyl, is a synthetic opioid that is exponentially stronger than morphine and was originally developed to help treat pain for cancer patients. However, the drug can easily be abused and added to heroin to increase it's high effects, or even disguised as heroin. Oftentimes, users will think they are purchasing heroin but are actually purchasing fentanyl, easily resulting in overdose deaths.
References:
Seven Days (2018)."Opioid Deaths Rise in Vermont but Plummet in Chittenden County" https://www.sevendaysvt.com/OffMessage/archives/2019/02/14/opioid-deaths-rise-in-vermont-but-plummet-in-chittenden-county
Burlington Free Press (2018). "Opioid Deaths down 50 percent in Chittenden County" https://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/news/2019/02/15/opioid-deaths-down-50-percent-chittenden-county-vermont/2882146002/
[post_title] => Opioid-Related Deaths Dropped 50 Percent in Chittenden County in 2018
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[post_content] => In the last five years, more than 1,600 Maine residents have died from a drug overdose. Governor Janet Mills has only been on the job for a few weeks, but she is planning to execute a lot of changes to alleviate drug overdoses in the state. In her first month. Mills recently named Gordon Smith the state’s first ever Director of Opioid Response, Smith being a long time medical lobbyist.
Where is Mills going to start battling the epidemic?
She believes more preventative measures must be put into action, like broadening the access to naloxone. Naloxone is an overdose reversal drug that can save the life of someone overdosing on opioids, but it can be costly to taxpayers. “We're preparing an executive order in that regard. Preparing some financial orders that may well help transfer some funds and draw down some federal funds that are already there to help address that problem,” Mills said in response to the potential increase in taxpayers costs.
Maine already has safe injection sites, but Mills is expanding access to those as well as getting more Main residents into substance use treatment centers. The numbers in Maine are staggering for overdose deaths, and it’s understandable why Governor Mills is taking such fast action. In 2017, Maine reported 418 drug overdose deaths and there were 180 deaths in the first 6 months of 2018.
Reference. 2018 https://wgme.com/news/local/gov-mills-takes-new-approach-to-solving-opioid-crisis WGME
[post_title] => What is the Governor of Maine doing to address the opioid crisis?
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