With the start of 2018 comes an even greater need for healthcare reform, particularly in the realm of addiction treatment and management. The rate of overdoses and deaths associated with opiates skyrocketed in 2017 and gained mass attention from both the medical community and mainstream media outlets alike.
The National Institute of Drug Addiction, a division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has designated this alarming misuse of opioids a “public health crisis with devastating consequences.”
It’s Not Just the Government’s Problem
While the NIH and associated U.S. government departments are taking their own actions to stop this catastrophe in its tracks, individual practices must also implement changes on a smaller scale in order to ensure nationwide success. With this opiate crisis in full swing, there is no better time to embrace more efficient practices in hospitals, addiction treatment practices, and recovery centers. One method of streamlining the increasing number of individuals requiring care and guidance within the realm of addiction recovery is to more widely implement addiction treatment EMR software within these facilities.
Embracing Technology
Electronic medical records (EMR) have gained more and more popularity in the healthcare field, allowing for improved coordination between facilities, within individual practices, and between healthcare providers and those seeking treatment. More recently, specific programs have been created to cater specifically to the management of addiction treatment.
Healthcare providers can utilize these types of software in order to more carefully manage patient prescriptions, cutting back on the frivolous prescription of opioid medications, while addiction treatment centers can use the same programs to better care for those seeking help with their addiction.
With addiction recovery centers’ increased clientele comes the need for more efficient management and communication. These improvements can be achieved in the coming year by the use of information technology (more specifically, the use of addiction treatment EMR software) that will allow for adaptability and expandable treatment options to benefit patient care.
