opioid Archives

Filters

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.

SOUTH BURLINGTON, VT. (PRWEB) MAY 22, 2019

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.”

Read the press release on PRWEB here

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.

Mary Brandenberger, a spokeswoman for the DEA explained that this is a huge move for China and that it has the potential to even "eliminate Chinese drug traffickers and their ability to alter fentanyl compounds to get around the law".

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? [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => china-fentanyl [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2021-07-21 19:32:25 [post_modified_gmt] => 2021-07-21 23:32:25 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://aspenti.com/?p=59693 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [2] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 59397 [post_author] => 13 [post_date] => 2019-02-21 11:54:12 [post_date_gmt] => 2019-02-21 16:54:12 [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 [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => chittenden-county-opioid-death-decrease [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2021-07-21 19:32:26 [post_modified_gmt] => 2021-07-21 23:32:26 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://aspenti.com/?p=59397 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [3] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 59356 [post_author] => 13 [post_date] => 2019-02-04 16:24:40 [post_date_gmt] => 2019-02-04 21:24:40 [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? [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => maine-opioid-crisis [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2021-07-21 19:32:26 [post_modified_gmt] => 2021-07-21 23:32:26 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://aspenti.com/?p=59356 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [4] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 59348 [post_author] => 13 [post_date] => 2019-01-17 15:33:22 [post_date_gmt] => 2019-01-17 20:33:22 [post_content] => The National Safety Council released a study stating that Americans are more likely to die from an accidental opioid overdose than a vehicle crash. “The group analyzed preventable injuries and deaths in 2017 and found the odds of dying by accidental opioid overdose to be 1 in 96 and the odds of a motor vehicle crash 1 in 103.” Each day, 130 Americans die after overdosing on opioids, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The drug headlining many of these overdose deaths is illicit fentanyl; a powerful and dangerous synthetic opioid that has spread like wildfire in black markets for drugs. How did we get to this point? How did we arrive at a point in US history where more people are dying from an opioid overdose than a car accident? In the 1990’s pain pills were aggressively marketed by pharmaceutical companies to doctors, and marketed as being “safe”. This led doctors to prescribe pain pills more often, and in higher amounts. Eventually, many patients became addicted and the federal government brought criminal charges to companies for marketing their pain pills as being safer and less addictive then other opioids. In the last 15 years, the DEA and CDC have worked hard to create regulations surrounding pain pills and prescribing them. The CDC has reported that the national life expectancy rate is declining as the number of fatal opioid overdoses rise. Those born in 2017 are expected to live to be 78.6 years old, whereas babies born in 2016 had a 1.2 month higher life expectancy. Stats like this one make the epidemic a very real and scary crisis. However, there are many solutions that can be applied such as expanding access to addiction treatment, giving easier access to medications such as buprenorphine, that treat addiction and reduce mortality rate for patients. “Vermont saw its overdose death rate drop by around 6 percent in 2017 with the continued expansion of a hub and spoke system that integrates addiction treatment into the rest of health care. Rhode Island also saw a roughly 2 percent drop, as it implemented, among other changes, better access to opioid addiction medications in its prisons and jails. And Massachusetts saw a roughly 3 percent drop, along with a public health campaign that has emphasized more addiction treatment, including in emergency rooms, and fewer painkiller prescriptions.”

References: Beth Leipholtz (2018). Opioid Overdose Deaths Surpass Vehicle Crash Deaths For First Time. https://www.thefix.com/opioid-overdose-deaths-surpass-vehicle-crash-deaths-first-time German Lopez (2018). Americans are now more likely to die from opioid overdoses than car crashes. https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2019/1/15/18183815/opioid-epidemic-car-crashes-national-safety-council Jessica Bursztynsky (2018) Americans more likely to die from opioid overdose today than car accident. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/15/americans-more-likely-to-die-from-opioid-overdose-than-car-accident.html [post_title] => Surprisingly, Americans Are More Likely to Perish from an Opioid Overdose Than This... [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => opioid-overdose-death [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2021-07-21 19:32:26 [post_modified_gmt] => 2021-07-21 23:32:26 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://aspenti.com/?p=59348 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [5] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 59345 [post_author] => 13 [post_date] => 2019-01-09 15:01:47 [post_date_gmt] => 2019-01-09 20:01:47 [post_content] => Imagine waking up one day and deciding that you are going to rob a store to purchase enough dope to kill yourself, and if you don't make it that far and get caught....at least you'll get the help you need. That is how Jennifer Clay woke up on Easter Sunday of 2015. Clay had been in a car accident when she was 18 and was prescribed pain medication that she quickly developed an addiction to. Once her prescription ran out, she turned to illicit pills and then, heroin. She had been maintaining a job at a hospital, her house, bills, and her car. However, Clay’s addiction continued and led to her ultimately robbing a Walgreens and a friend turning her in to the police. While incarcerated, a state treatment facility inquired if Clay would be interested in beginning addiction treatment. Through group counseling sessions, she began to recover, and requested to be put into an inpatient program when she was released. Staying at a women’s recovery house following her stay in rehab, helped Clay become 100% sober. Today, she has a job, a home, and a 6-month old son. Although it’s a sad statement, Jail truly saved Clay’s life. Many women in recovery face multiple barriers due to stigma, and an upstanding role that society plays in them being the prime caretaker of their children. Barbara Rachelson, a Representative on the House Judiciary Committee, says that there is still a big stigma that people assume these women were out partying. The stigma can be so alarming that many women won’t openly speak out about their addiction, worsening their issues. Adding onto the fact that many of these women have experienced various kinds of trauma, and do not have access to affordable counseling or other mental health treatments. “Its easier to stay sober when you have more resources at your disposal than if you’re homeless or struggling”, Rachelson added. References: Katie Wedell (2018). Local Mom in Recovery: Jail 'best thing that ever happened to me'. https://www.daytondailynews.com/news/local/local-mom-recovery-jail-best-thing-that-ever-happened/9l17VWsAqnYzbHdRhkBTGK/ Jess Aloe (2018). Opioid addiction: Mothers in recovery face a unique set of barriers. https://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/news/2018/12/31/opioid-addiction-recovery-mothers-face-unique-challenges/2312346002/ [post_title] => Why Did This Mom Say Jail was the Best Thing to Ever Happen to Her? [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => moms-in-recovery [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2021-07-21 19:32:26 [post_modified_gmt] => 2021-07-21 23:32:26 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://aspenti.com/?p=59345 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [6] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 59321 [post_author] => 13 [post_date] => 2018-11-29 10:41:41 [post_date_gmt] => 2018-11-29 15:41:41 [post_content] => Aspenti was included in a round table discussion with Governor Phil Scott regarding hiring recovering opioid addicts. “We care tremendously about recovery-friendly workplaces,” said Al Gobeille, Vermont’s Department of Human Services secretary. Gobeille went on to add, "The biggest thing the state does is we provide medically assisted treatment that allows people to get treatment for their addiciton, and then we try to couple that with employment opportunities." There are about 8,000 people in treatment for opioid use disorder, according to the state’s agency of human services. Watch the news story here to learn about how employers are helping support recovering Vermonters seeking a fresh start. [post_title] => Local Vermont Businesses Helping Recovering Addicts Find Employment [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => local-vermont-businesses-helping-recovering-addicts-find-employment [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2021-07-21 19:32:26 [post_modified_gmt] => 2021-07-21 23:32:26 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://aspenti.com/?p=59321 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [7] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 59319 [post_author] => 13 [post_date] => 2018-11-29 09:25:57 [post_date_gmt] => 2018-11-29 14:25:57 [post_content] => Aspenti Chief Medical Officer, Jill Warrington, was recently interviewed on Vermont Public Radio regarding the Opioid Crisis in rural areas of Vermont. In a new poll from NPR, drug abuse and addiction are a major concern in rural America. Warrington has experience on treating substance abuse and believes that the opioid crisis has two stages; the first phase includes prescription opioid abuse, and the second phase consists of the use of fentanyl and heroin. Commenting on prescription opioid abuse in Vermont, Warrington says, “We see what I call, the turning off of the spicket. Prescription opiate prescribing is going down.” However, that doesn’t hold true for all areas of Vermont. In the heat map shown below, there are still high rates of prescription opioid use in certain counties; Franklin, Orleans, and Windham. The percentages show the number of positive toxicology tests divided by the total number of tests ordered from each Vermont county from March 2016 to March 2017. Listen to the full interview here [post_title] => Aspenti CMO Dr. Jill Warrington on Vermont Public Radio [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => aspenti-cmo-dr-jill-warrington-on-vermont-public-radio [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2021-07-21 19:32:26 [post_modified_gmt] => 2021-07-21 23:32:26 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://aspenti.com/?p=59319 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) ) [post_count] => 8 [current_post] => -1 [in_the_loop] => [post] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 59918 [post_author] => 13 [post_date] => 2019-06-04 14:54:12 [post_date_gmt] => 2019-06-04 18:54:12 [post_content] =>

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.

SOUTH BURLINGTON, VT. (PRWEB) MAY 22, 2019

Read the press release on PRWEB here

[post_title] => Aspenti Health™ Wins Clinical Lab 2.0 Innovation Award Demonstrating the Clinical Laboratory as a First Responder to the Opioid Crisis [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => aspenti-wins-clinical-lab-2-0-innovation-award [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2021-07-21 19:32:25 [post_modified_gmt] => 2021-07-21 23:32:25 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://aspenti.com/?p=59918 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [comment_count] => 0 [current_comment] => -1 [found_posts] => 8 [max_num_pages] => 1 [max_num_comment_pages] => 0 [is_single] => [is_preview] => [is_page] => [is_archive] => 1 [is_date] => [is_year] => [is_month] => [is_day] => [is_time] => [is_author] => [is_category] => [is_tag] => 1 [is_tax] => [is_search] => [is_feed] => [is_comment_feed] => [is_trackback] => [is_home] => [is_privacy_policy] => [is_404] => [is_embed] => [is_paged] => [is_admin] => [is_attachment] => [is_singular] => [is_robots] => [is_favicon] => [is_posts_page] => [is_post_type_archive] => [query_vars_hash:WP_Query:private] => 0668a528d20c951cf9ba3a08ec17534f [query_vars_changed:WP_Query:private] => [thumbnails_cached] => 1 [stopwords:WP_Query:private] => [compat_fields:WP_Query:private] => Array ( [0] => query_vars_hash [1] => query_vars_changed ) [compat_methods:WP_Query:private] => Array ( [0] => init_query_flags [1] => parse_tax_query ) )