While some clinicians may be skeptical of relying on EMRs, officials at Greensburg, Pa.-based Excela Health are using the facility's EMR system to curb the effects of the opioid abuse epidemic on patients, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Excela Health officials supplemented the health system's existing EMR with a social service referral feature that alerts case managers and recovery specialists at the facility whenever a physician flags a patient as a potential opioid abuser. The alert is based on the patient's medical history and symptoms recorded by their primary care physician.
Since implementing the feature in May, 319 individuals have been transferred to drug and alcohol case managers. Approximately 48 percent of those individuals were referred for inpatient rehabilitation, according to a drug and alcohol case management supervisor from the Southwestern Pennsylvania Human Services in Charleroi, an organization dedicated to providing healthcare services to southwestern Pennsylvania residents, according to the report.
The number of drug-related deaths in Westmoreland County — which includes Excela Health — rose 691 percent between 2002 and 2016, from 22 deaths to 174 deaths, according to the report. Officials documented 36 confirmed drug-related deaths in the area as of June 1, with another 52 suspected drug-related deaths pending confirmation through testing.