Nashville Post: New opioid treatment to launch at Nashville General
The Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services and the Tennessee Hospital Association have partnered to bring medication-assisted treatment to emergency rooms statewide.
January 7, 2024
Emergency departments see patients who are dealing with opioid use disorder on a daily basis.
The Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services and the Tennessee Hospital Association have partnered to bring medication-assisted treatment to emergency rooms statewide. Nashville General Hospital has joined the second cohort of the program, with plans to implement medication-assisted treatment in early 2024.
The city’s safety net hospital will receive $250,000 to spend on buprenorphine, naloxone, transportation for patients and incentives for doctors to get involved in the program.
From Jan. 1 until Sept. 30, 520 people died from drug overdose in Davidson County.
Dr. Deann Bullock, emergency department medical director at Nashville General Hospital, told the Post that the hospital sees multiple patients with opioid use disorder each day. Some patients come to the department with withdrawal symptoms, some are actively under the influence, and some come for other health problems. She said emergency room providers refer patients to addiction services when they can.
“The few places that we can refer to at times may not have availability, it may be the weekend, it may be the night,” Bullock said. “There's no consistency in it, and it is not something that's required of our providers, nor is it something that is universally implemented across the board.”
Read more about this program here.
