Health Care Systems Make Gains on Opioid Prescriptions

Since alarms first began going off about a rising number of opioid-related deaths in the U.S., Nebraska has lowered opioid prescriptions by 32%. Local experts are calling the decline between 2013 and 2018 a good start.

Hospitals are listening and paying attention,” said Margaret Woeppel, the Nebraska Hospital Association’s vice president for quality initiatives.

Locally, individual health systems are also reporting signs of progress.

Methodist Health System scaled back total prescribing across the organization, including inpatient and outpatient, by 750,000 pills from 2017 to 2018, a reduction of 12%. The bulk of reductions have come through its outpatient clinics.

Omaha World-Herald reporter Julie Anderson: Omaha-Area Hospitals Make Progress In Reducing Opioid Prescribing