OH implements Narcan initiative
Apr. 4—Owensboro Health is looking to combat accidental opioid overdoses by providing Narcan nasal spray to patients meeting certain criteria alongside their opioid prescriptions.
Jason Collins, executive pharmacy director at Owensboro Health, said the initiative stems from the health organization's opioid stewardship committee, which looks to ensure safe opioid prescribing and assist in the decreasing of opioid abuse and misuse by patients.
"We're constantly looking at different opportunities to improve the use and prescribing habits of opioids in our community," he said. "... One thing we're looking at is making sure that pertains to our patients in our community and they have what they need; and Narcan is a great example of that."
Collins said the committee has created a best practice advisory (BPA) where any patient that is discharged that has 50 or more milligram morphine equivalents (MME) — values that represent the potency of an opioid dose relative to morphine to help clinicians in making safe decisions regarding changes to opioid regimens and uses — will be eligible to be prescribed Narcan.
"If you're getting 50 or more MMEs a day, the provider will automatically get a message in our computer system that ... asks them to order Narcan as well as the opioid," Collins said.
The BPA went into effect on March 27, according to Collins.
The prescriptions can go to the patient's personal pharmacy or OH's outpatient pharmacy located at the Pleasant Valley Medical Building, 1301 Pleasant Valley Road.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Narcan is a common brand name for naloxone, a medicine that "rapidly reserves an opioid overdose" that can be administered as a nasal spray.
While the BPA is to serve those who may experience an overdose, Collins said Narcan can also be handy in case of other situations that arise.
"If you have kids at home, it will be good to have that Narcan ....," he said. "Kids (can) get into things unattended obviously, and (having) that Narcan around is a great rescue mechanism for those families to have in case something (occurs)."
According to the 2021 Overdose Fatality Report by the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet and the Office of Drug Control Policy (ODCP) released June 2022, 2,250 Kentuckians died from drug overdoses in 2021 — 14.5% increase compared to 2020.
The report stated more than 107,000 overdose deaths were reported in the U.S. between December 2020 to December 2021.
While Collins didn't have specific numbers to detail, he said there's been an increase in the use of Narcan in the community.
"I know our EMS and our law enforcement officers ... carry Narcan with them and they are administering more of that now than they did a couple years ago," he said. "This is an opportunity to get more Narcan out there for our patients to keep them safe."
While the BPA has only been in effect for just over a week, Collins said it's already seen some attention with the hospital pharmacy seeing a "drastic increase in the prescribing of the Narcan along with opioids."
"That's very encouraging that we're actually seeing those orders being placed," he said.
Collins hopes having the BPA in place will help make Narcan more accessible while reducing the number of deaths from unintentional overdoses.
"It's not that we're saying we expect that people are going to overdose on it, but ... you have loved ones (at home), you have children there that may accidentally get into this.
"It's to protect everybody ...."
The cost of Narcan is dependent on a patient's individual insurance and copay.
