Working Together to Impact the Opioid Epidemic

Right now our workgroups are looking at both opioid prescribing and opioid use disorder treatment – focusing on prevention and on building our health system treatment infrastructure. We welcome you to join either of these conversations – and especially to give us feedback on our metrics to track opioid prescribing that are currently out for public comment.

We have been working to implement our Washington State Guideline on Prescribing Opioids for Pain and unfortunately are still seeing a gap between the best practices in these guidelines and prescribing practice. To help with guideline adoption we have developed metrics to track prescribing that are aligned with the guidelines. These metrics are meant to be used for quality improvement internally by hospitals, clinics, and health plans and also to show the state of Washington State.

Let us know what you think. Send us your feedback on these draft opioid prescribing metrics. Our workgroup will review comments before submitting a final draft for review and adoption by the Bree Collaborative. Please read the draft Opioid Prescribing Metrics and the lists of included and excluded opioids before completing the survey here: www.surveymonkey.com/r/opioid-metrics. We estimate that this survey will take 10-15 minutes to complete. Feedback must be received by 5pm Friday, June 23rd. Our workgroup will meet to discuss the comments and make changes on June 28^th from 3:00 – 4:30.

Join the conversation on prescribing opioids in dentistry. We are holding our second Opioid Prescribing in Dentistry Summit on Thursday, June 22^nd from 1:00 – 3:30pm. This will be an open meeting and any who are interested are welcome to attend either in-person or over the phone. This summit follows our March 9th conversation. Find out more information here: www.breecollaborative.org/topic-areas/opioid/

Help us improve treatment for opioid use disorder. Our workgroup is focusing on providing the most effective, evidence-based treatment; supported referrals; and on whole-person health. We want to make sure that people with opioid use disorder are linked to appropriate treatment services, particularly medication-assisted treatment and aim to work with the Accountable Communities of Health in their efforts around addressing this public health crisis. Join us at our next meeting on June 16^th from 3:00 – 4:30. Find out more information here: www.breecollaborative.org/topic-areas/oud-treatment/

Ginny Weir, MPH
Program Director, Bree Collaborative