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Ohio County Hospital Tightens Guidelines for ER Narcotics Prescriptions
7/18/2006
Ohio County Hospital exists to help individuals to maintain, improve and/or cope with their health status. Across the nation, emergency room visits involving narcotic pain medications continue to rise at an alarming rate. Ohio County Hospital, like other hospitals around the country, has seen increasing numbers of patients visiting its emergency department seeking narcotics for management of chronic pain conditions. In response to these trends, Ohio County Hospital has implemented more stringent guidelines to govern the writing of narcotic and sedative medication prescriptions by Emergency Department physicians.
“Because we are increasingly concerned about the abuse of narcotic and sedative medications in our society, this hospital discourages their use except when absolutely necessary,” said Blaine Pieper, CEO. “We want to help individuals cope with chronic pain in the proper manner.”
Under the new policy, patients who visit the ER for a non-emergency, chronic pain conditions will not be prescribed narcotic pain medication. Some examples of chronic pain conditions include but are not limited to: migraine headaches, back pain, pelvic or ovarian pain, dental pain and fibromyalgia. Only short term treatment, in the form of non-narcotic pain medication, will be provided to chronic pain patients who have frequent or multiple visits to the Emergency Department.
Additionally, prescriptions for narcotic and sedative medications that have been lost or expired will not be refilled. Patients need to maintain active prescriptions with their primary care physician, specialty physician or other appropriate health care provider who has prescribed these medications.
The role of the Emergency Department is to treat patients with life-threatening emergencies or patients who experience sudden illness outside their personal physician’s office hours. According to Vicky Hendricks, Director of Outpatient Services, “We feel that the implementation of this policy will help reduce the wait time for patients with true emergencies.”
If the Emergency Physician feels it is indicated, a narcotic prescription may be written for patients that present with an acute pain condition. The patient would receive a limited number of pills to control symptoms until they can seek treatment with their personal physician. Any patient returning to the Emergency Department for refills of said prescription would be given a non-narcotic prescription. As a safety measure, Ohio County Hospital also requires a patient who receives narcotic or sedating medication (either by injection or by mouth) to have a driver physically present in the patient’s room before administering the medication.
The new Emergency Department Use of Narcotics and Sedatives Policy is posted in the Emergency Department at the hospital as well as on its Web site, www.ohiocountyhospital.com. For any questions regarding the policy, you may call 270-298-7411, ext. 452.
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