Talk to the Veterans Crisis Line now
U.S. flag
An official website of the United States government
Veterans Benefits and Health Care About VA Find a VA Location

VA Health Systems Research

Go to the VA ORD website
Go to the QUERI website

HSR&D Citation Abstract

Search | Search by Center | Search by Source | Keywords in Title

Group Visits for Overdose Education and Naloxone Distribution in Primary Care: A Pilot Quality Improvement Initiative.

Spelman JF, Peglow S, Schwartz AR, Burgo-Black L, McNamara K, Becker WC. Group Visits for Overdose Education and Naloxone Distribution in Primary Care: A Pilot Quality Improvement Initiative. Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.). 2017 Dec 1; 18(12):2325-2330.

Dimensions for VA is a web-based tool available to VA staff that enables detailed searches of published research and research projects.

If you have VA-Intranet access, click here for more information vaww.hsrd.research.va.gov/dimensions/

VA staff not currently on the VA network can access Dimensions by registering for an account using their VA email address.    Search Dimensions for VA for this citation
* Don't have VA-internal network access or a VA email address? Try searching the free-to-the-public version of Dimensions


Abstract:

Objective: Opioid prescribing for chronic pain significantly contributes to opioid overdose deaths in the United States. Naloxone as a take-home antidote to opioid overdose is underutilized and has not been evaluated in the high-risk chronic pain population. The objective was to increase overdose education and naloxone distribution (OEND) to high-risk patients on long-term opioid therapy for pain by utilizing group visits in primary care. Design: Quality improvement intervention among two primary care clinics. Setting: A large, academic facility within the Veterans Health Administration. Subjects: Patients prescribed 100 mg morphine-equivalent daily dose or coprescribed opioids and benzodiazepines. Methods: One clinic provided usual care with respect to OEND; another clinic encouraged attendance at an OEND group visit to all of its high-risk patients. Results: We used attendance at group visits, prescriptions of naloxone issued, and patient satisfaction scores to evaluate this format of OEND. Key Results: Group OEND visits resulted in significantly more naloxone prescriptions than usual care. At these group visits, patients were engaged, valued the experience, and all requested a prescription for the naloxone kit. Conclusion: This quality improvement pilot study suggests that OEND group visits are a promising model of care.




Questions about the HSR website? Email the Web Team

Any health information on this website is strictly for informational purposes and is not intended as medical advice. It should not be used to diagnose or treat any condition.