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Twin Cities Orthopedics, one of the nation’s largest orthopedic physician groups, saw the need to address the growing opioid crisis with a multi-pronged approach to prevention. In addition to addressing prescribing rates, the organization sought to provide patients with education and resources for the proper disposal of unused medication to prevent misuse or diversion.
“Ortho has a high prescribing quantity as well as patients transitioning between care frequently (ASC, hospital, clinic, ER, etc.),” says Vice President of Clinical Services Rachel Uzlik. “The known issue of proper disposal was a focus for our providers.”
Twin Cities Orthopedics became the first ambulatory surgery center in Minnesota to dispense Deterra® Drug Deactivation and Disposal Pouches to patients at the time of receiving their prescription. Since instituting new patient education guidelines on drug disposal, patient survey responses show proper disposal habits have doubled from previous surveys.
“Our surgeons felt passionately about the mission and agreed it was a service add for our patients,” says Uzlik. “We knew patients struggled with quick, easy solutions for drug disposal; Deterra was a perfect fit and continues to be a perfect fit.”
Proper drug disposal via at-home drug deactivation helps ensure that medications are permanently destroyed and unavailable for misuse. In addition, it reduces the risk for environmental contamination by preventing still-potent substances from entering the water supply or landfills by way of flushing, sinking or improper placement in the trash.
To reduce patient opioid reliance and improve safe medication disposal behavior, Twin Cities Orthopedics researchers began tracking and surveying 3,000 patients and their prescription counts, satisfaction levels and disposal habits of leftover pain medication in spring 2017. In early 2018, insights from the study were used to establish formal opioid prescribing protocols and develop patient resources for the safe disposal of unused drugs.
“A common response when trying to get providers to align to standard max prescribing MEU’s is the patients are rural and want to minimize the burden on the patient to return for more meds,” says Uzlik. “When we were able to connect consumption to amount prescribed and demonstrate we were prescribing way too high of quantities, the doctors were able to see there is variability around procedures. Our next step is to better understand, at a patient level, how much opioids are needed to further reduce prescribing quantities.”
Patients are provided Deterra Pouches and instructions for the safe disposal of leftover pills at the time of discharge from the ASC.
“[Patients] love it! When it is easy to use and have on hand, they use it and ask for more,” Uzlik says. “To provide disposal options that do not require the patient to leave their home only further supports reducing unintended consequences of diversion, etc.”
The updated prescribing protocols and inclusion of drug disposal resources for patients have resulted in higher reported patient satisfaction levels, lower reported pain levels and increased proper disposal behavior. To continue the success of these initiatives, Twin Cities Orthopedics is currently working on expanding the use of Deterra Pouches into its colorectal and plastic surgery divisions.
Visit DeterraSystem.com/government to explore how other organizations are using Deterra or reach out to (612) 568-1128 or Sales@DeterraSystem.com to discuss how to implement at-home drug disposal initiatives in your community.
