Thursday, November 30, 2023
11/30/2023
Project Abstract Project Title: New Jersey Collaborative to Improve Access to Overdose Treatment Applicant Name: Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine Address: 42 East Laurel Road, Stratford NJ 08084 Project Director: Richard Jermyn, DO Phone and Email 856-566-7010; jermynrt@rowan.edu Eligibility: SAMHSA waiver to prescribe buprenorphine The NeuroMusculoskeletal Institute at Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine proposes a New Jersey Collaborative to Improve Access to Overdose Treatment. The project will form a statewide Overdose Treatment Access Collaborative that will develop a Best Practices for Co-Prescribing Naloxone Toolkit, train 2,500 physicians and pharmacists, and implement the toolkit with 2,500 patients at risk for overdose over five years including co-prescribing naloxone. In 2016, opioid overdoses killed more than 42,000 individuals nationwide. Between 2015 and 2016, the opioid overdose death rate in New Jersey increased 42.3%¿the fifth largest in the nation¿primarily due to heroin and fentanyl. The geographic catchment area for the project will be five counties in New Jersey with the highest opiate overdose death rates. These counties include Camden, Atlantic, Ocean, Essex, and Middlesex counties. In 2016, these five counties accounted for 48.5% of all overdose deaths in New Jersey including 50% of all heroin overdoses and 48.7% of all fentanyl overdoses. Reports indicate that the epidemic is worsening in New Jersey with 1,204 overdose deaths so far in 2018 which could increase to 3,000 by years end. The US Surgeon General recently called for an increase in naloxone possession and use among patients prescribed opiates for pain and individuals with opiate use disorders. How these populations are to utilize naloxone was not specified. Three different naloxone utilization scenarios can be envisioned. While only one report has appeared on self-administration of naloxone during an overdose (scenario 1), the majority of take home naloxone programs have focused on training individuals to take home and administer naloxone when they witness an overdose (scenario 2). However, there has been no discussion of training patients taking opiates to train peers how to administer naloxone to them in the event of their own overdose (scenario 3). Because the ultimate goal of prescribing naloxone to patients taking opiates should be to save their own life, there is an urgent need to develop unified best practices across all healthcare disciplines for co-prescribing naloxone that includes focused training procedures. The goals of this project are designed to align with the required activities listed in the funding opportunity announcement including 1) expanding access to naloxone for the treatment of overdose in patients taking opiates by formation of a New Jersey Overdose Treatment Access Collaborative to develop a Best Practices for Co-Prescribing Naloxone Toolkit, 2) increasing knowledge of best practices by providing training and resources to at least 2,500 physicians, pharmacists, and other practitioners over five years, and 3) increasing the number of patients co-prescribed naloxone by implementing best practices with 2,500 patients over five years at risk for overdose within the NeuroMusculoskeletal Institute. The project has formed a very large collaborative partnership with the State of New Jersey, FQHCs in high overdose areas, pharmacy schools, the Department of Veteran’s Affairs, the New Jersey Hospital Association and other organizations. The project will be evaluated by the Rutgers Center for Prevention Science.
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