Minnesota Hospital Association

Quality & Patient Safety

opioids

 

Opioid use disorder related to prescription pain relievers affected an estimated 10.1 million people in 2019. The impacts of the opioid epidemic have only magnified during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, an average of 44 people died each day in the U.S. from overdoses involving prescription opioids, totaling more than 16,000 deaths, a 16% increase from the previous year. Preliminary data from the Minnesota Department of Health shows that from 2020 to 2021, opioid-involved overdose deaths increased by 35%, to an all-time high of 924 deaths in 2021. 

Deaths from prescription opioids have quadrupled since 1999. This trend can only be reversed with collaboration from health care systems and their patients. Hospitals and health systems are partnering with patients, families and communities to prevent misuse by improving opioid prescribing practices, to reduce exposure to opioids by using alternative therapies and to treat opioid use disorder with evidence-based therapy.

The resources below will help hospitals, health systems, health care providers and patients meet the goal of safe pain management.

MHA members can log in to the website at the top-right corner of this page to view the opioid stewardship, ADE prevention, opioid prescribing for chronic pain, opioid prescribing for acute pain, and opioid prescribing for post-acute pain road maps. 


Opioids toolkit

Pain assessment and management

Opioid safety

Patient monitoring

Prescribing guidelines

Sample policies

Tools and training

Patient and family education

Policy and advocacy

Webinars

  • Community Engagement (Opioid Learning Network series, session 6)
    View recording
     Aug. 25, 2022
  • Tapering, opioid use disorder (OUD), and medication assisted therapy (MAT) (Opioid Learning Network series, session 5)
    View recording
    June 23, 2022
  • Utilizing data and technical support to improve opioid stewardship (Opioid Learning Network series, session 4)
    View recording
    April 28, 2022
  • Provider and staff education and accountability (Opioid Learning Network series, session 3)
    View recording
    Download slides
    Feb. 24, 2022
  • Pain management and patient/family caregiver education in an opioid stewardship program (Opioid Learning Network series, session two)
    View recording
    Download slides
    Dec. 16, 2021
  • Leadership and culture in an opioid stewardship program  (Opioid Learning Network series, session one)
    View recording
    Oct. 28, 2021
  • MHA Opioid Stewardship Road Map Rollout (Opioid Stewardship Series Part Six)
    A panel of four physicians describing the key foundational pillars used in the development of the opioid stewardship road map.
    View recording
    Download slides
    Sep. 9, 2021
  • Delivering Whole Person Care (Opioid Stewardship Series Part Five)
    Andrew Kolodny, M.D., senior scientist and medical director, Opioid Policy Research Collaborative.
    View recording
    Download slides
    Aug. 26, 2021
  • Alternatives to Opioids (ALTO) in the Treatment of Pain (Opioid Stewardship Series Part Four)
    Alicia Gonzalez (Kurtz), MD. Emergency Medicine Medical Director, Marian Regional Medical Center Regional Director, CA Bridge Program.
    View recording
    Download slides
    July 22, 2021
  • Best Practices in Opioid Prescribing (Opioid Stewardship Series Part Three)
    Heidi Overton, Ph.D. candidate, clinical investigations, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. Presentation of opioid prescribing best practices through health system and individual interventions.
    View recording
    June 24, 2021
  • DHS Opioid Prescribing Improvement Project (Opioid Stewardship Series Part Two)
    Minnesota Department of Human Services presents details of the opioid prescriber report cards.
    View recording
    May 27, 2021
  • Opioid Stewardship Kickoff
    Marty Makary, New York Times bestselling author, Johns Hopkins Surgeon and Professor of Public Health.
    Presentation includes information on opioid stewardship and best practice in opioid prescribing.
    Note: Unable to record based on speaker’s contract.
    April 22, 2021
  • Opioid Prescribing Improvement Program: Drilling into the Opioid Reports
    View slides
    July 24, 2019

For additional opioid-related policy and advocacy resources, please see the policy and advocacy section of the MHA website.

For opioid-related video resources, please see the medication safety section of the MHA website.