Monterey County Prescribe Safe Initiative

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.

Continuum of Care
Prevention
Type of Evidence
Peer-reviewed
Response Approach
Cautious Opioid Prescribing
Educational
Peer-reviewed Article

Evidence of Program Effectiveness

"A 59% reduction in ED visits and a 47% reduction in variable cost avoidance in a population of recurrent visitors that are under biopsychosocial care management. Additionally, the initiative has more than halved the number of narcotic pills prescribed at primary care clinics in the region. Perhaps most notable is the reality that providers are beginning to think about both addiction and their role in treating patients who present with addiction problems in a new way." (Close and Grover, 2016)

Other self-reported successes of the initiative include:

  • Increase in the use of non-opioid therapies in CHOMP's emergency department by over 300%
  • Drug take-back of thousands of pounds of unused medications annually
  • Drastic decrease in opioid overdose death rate in Monterey County, from above average to 3rd lowest of California's counties based on per capita rate