HAP Resource Center

Case Study: Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health 2019 HAP Achievement Award

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Awarded for: Aligning Efforts to Fight the Opioid Crisis

Community Champions

Large Organizations

Clinical team at Penn Medicine Lancaster General HealthThe goal:  Use the collaborative collective impact model to reduce the number of deaths from heroin and opioid overdoses in Lancaster County.

This collaborative effort, called The Coalition, engaged stakeholders within the health system and the community to assess needs and develop and implement strategies, including:

  • A website hub for information, resources, and other materials
  • A multimedia campaign to raise awareness of the issue and website resources
  • Warm handoffs in the emergency department to connect patients with substance abuse disorder (SUD) with help
  • A door-to-door project to connect prisoners with SUD to treatment
  • School-based opioid use prevention programs for more than 7,500 students
  • Expanded naloxone access, to help increase the total reported uses of naloxone by 27 percent (2017 to 2018)
  • Education about safe opioid prescribing practices for nearly 1,500 physicians, dentists, and advanced practice professionals and expanded use of safe prescribing guidelines throughout the health system

Results:  The number of overdose deaths declined 35.7 percent, from 168 deaths during 2017 to 108 deaths during 2018. Physician education, combined with the introduction of the Pennsylvania Prescription Drug Monitoring Program, have reduced overall opioid prescriptions and the number of patients receiving high doses of opioid therapy.

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Topics: Population Health, Quality Initiatives, Substance Use Disorder

Revision Date: 9/1/2019

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