A collaboration of stakeholders in California targeting prescription opioid misuse
The Monterey County Prescribe Safe Initiative (MCPSI) is a community-based project in California that brings together law enforcement, hospitals in the county, physicians, urgent care centers, mental health providers, and advocacy groups to address prescription opioid use and misuse. The initiative guides, educates, and provides resources for local physicians and patients in the safe use of prescription medications and promotes safe and effective pain management.
Started in 2014 by the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula (CHOMP), the goals of the MCPSI are to:
- Improve the safety of prescription drugs
- Reduce inappropriate prescribing of prescription opioids and sedatives
- Increase access to treatment for addiction
- Improve education of the public and the medical community on the dangers of prescription drugs
In addition to targeting prescription opioid prescribing, the initiative is reducing opioid exposures through drug take back programs, alternative non-opioid therapies for pain, and educating community stakeholders. The initiative is also involved in naloxone distribution.
More detailed information on the initiative can be found in the webinar here and the presentation here, as well as the publicly-available award application here.
As a result of the initiative, providers are beginning to think about both addiction and their role in treating patients who present with addiction problems in a new way.