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Reducing Opioid Overdose and Misuse

In recent years evidence has made clear the risks and harms of long-term opioid use driven by overprescribing. Oregon Health Authority has been at the forefront of transforming prescribing practices, in part by convening task forces to develop guidelines and best practices to encourage safe prescribing and pain management across the health system. However, OHA recognizes that little is known about how best to help long-term opioid patients taper while honoring individual needs, addressing pain and preserving trust.

The Oregon Opioid Taper Guidelines Task Force is an approximately five-month process to identify tapering best practices. OHA has a continued interest in transparency, so the taper guidelines task force members will meet in public, as have all prior opioid guidelines task forces convened by the agency. The resulting guidelines will provide a framework for clinicians and patients looking to develop their own taper plans, as well as a starting point for dialogue between patient and provider.

Learn more about how OHA has changed the conversation on pain management and improved patient safety by convening experts from across the state:​​​

Task Force Information and Meetings

 

Opioid crisis in Oregon

Oregon, like the rest of the US, is experiencing an opioid crisis, involving misuse, abuse, overdose and death. This crisis involves both prescription opioid pain medications, as well as illicit opioids such as heroin and non-pharmaceutical fentanyl. Oregon has one of the highest rates of misuse of prescription opioids in the nation.

An average of 5 Oregonians die every week from opioid overdose. Heroin contributes to a significant number of overdose deaths, and illicit fentanyl-related deaths are increasing dramatically. Many overdose deaths involve multiple drugs, including both pharmaceutical and illicit opioids. Many more Oregonians develop opioid use disorder and/or dependency.

What OHA is doing to address the opioid crisis

The Oregon Health Authority aims to reduce the burden of opioid misuse and abuse through these key strategies:

  • Supporting safe and effective non-opioid pain management
  • Increasing access to medication-assisted treatment (MAT) and naloxone rescue
  • Decreasing the number of pills in circulation through appropriate prescribing
  • Collecting and reporting data to inform policy

Current Oregon data suggest that the statewide strategies are making an impact:

  • Prescription opioid overdose deaths decreased 45% between 2006 and 2016.
  • Opioid overdose hospitalizations have slightly increased.
  • Prescriptions for opioids have been steadily declining over several years.

Prescribing Guidelines

Oregon's Acute Opioid Prescribing Guidelines workgroup has approved adoption of Oregon Acute Opioid Prescribing Guidelines for patients not currently on opioids.

This work builds on the recommendations of Oregon's Opioid Prescribing Guidelines Task Force which approved adoption of Oregon Chronic Opioid Prescribing Guidelines in 2016.

Both sets of guidelines focus on recommendations to improve patient safety and care, and address the ongoing prescription opioid overdose epidemic.

More provider resources

Getting Help

Opioid use disorder can be treated

Talk to your health care provider or visit the links below for treatment resources.

Pain management resources

Our Work

Partners

Addressing the opioid epidemic involves many local, state and national partners. In Oregon, our Opioid Initiative Partnership includes the following groups:

In Oregon

National partners

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