February 22, 2019
MONTHLY NEWS AND UPDATES
IN THIS ISSUE

●      Join your colleagues at IEOCC Town Hall meetings
●      Strategies for Funding MAT Programs
●      California’s New Laws to Address Opioid Crisis
●      Treating Addiction like a Medical Condition in ERs
●      $100M+ in Investments by Dept of Health Care Services
●      Opioid Deaths Project: “Witch hunt or consumer protection?”
●      MAT Pocket Guide
●      Join us! Upcoming IEOCC events

Join us for IEOCC Town Halls - Spring 2019
IEOCC’s Safe Prescribing Workgroup is hosting a series of FREE town hall meetings to educate providers and other professionals on the updated opioid prescribing guidelines.

CME will be provided!

Click here to view the flyer .

Please register below:
Strategies for funding MAT programs
Although federal funding has increased the availability of MAT programs, the challenge remains of how California community health centers will continue these programs if grant funding ends. 

Published by CHCF, How to Pay for It: MAT in Community Health Centers , confronts this challenge with five possible funding strategies, including group visits and drop-in services.
California’s New Laws to Address Opioid Crisis
Following-up to December’s newsletter, a comprehensive list can be found here of the fourteen bills the California Legislature passed to address opioid safety and treatment. The laws include curbing over-prescribing practices, improving MAT, and widening the access of the overdose antidote drug, naloxone .  
Treating Addiction Like a Medical Condition in ERs
A growing number of hospital emergency rooms in California are treating addiction like a medical condition.

California’s experience suggests an ER addiction treatment program is possible and works. In this article , German Lopez shares the real-life stories of “what it looks like when we stop treating addiction as a moral failure.” 
Over $100M in Investments by Dept of Health Care Services
The Medication Assisted Treatment Expansion Project from the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) constitutes over $100 million of investment in a wide range of targeted interventions. See the full list of funded projects that support everything from provider education to fentanyl overdose reporting, to updating CURES and a statewide drug take-back program. 
Opioid deaths project: “Witch hunt or consumer protection?” 
The Medical Board of California has launched approximately 450 investigations into physicians who prescribed opioids to patients who suffered fatal overdoses, sometimes months or years later. Critics of the project, including the California Health Care Foundation, claim the investigations are causing doctors to refuse legitimate prescription requests. Read the full article, produced by Kaiser Health News and reported by Cheryl Clark, here .
MAT Pocket Guide 
The Inland Empire’s supply of MAT providers is growing quickly, but is still much less than the need of our communities. One way to engage more providers to serve their patients with addiction is by demystifying how MAT works. The brief and thorough SAMHSA MAT Pocket Guide is a great way for people to understand what this life-saving addiction care looks like.
Join us! Upcoming IEOCC events
Quarterly in-person meeting of full coalition: March 12, 2pm - 4pm , IEHP Offices in Rancho Cucamonga.
 
IEOCC Workgroups and upcoming meetings (schedule subject to change, via email updates):
●    Access to Treatment and Naloxone: March 5, 9am - 10am
●    Reducing Prescriptions: March 21, 3pm - 4:30pm
●    Reporting and Outcomes: March 7, 3pm - 4pm
●    Education and Engagement: March 18, 2pm - 3pm

Not involved yet? Join a group by contacting Joshua Crouch crouch-j@iehp.org .
ABOUT THE IEOCC
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Vision:  To reduce opioid use and opioid related deaths in the Inland Empire.

Mission:  The Inland Empire Opioid Crisis Coalition (IEOCC) creates effective community collaborations between member organizations and individuals who need help with pain management and addictive disorders. The coalition employs the values and techniques of harm reduction and integrated care.

IEOCC will ensure the following changes occur in their communities:

  • Education and engagement with service providers and community members.

  • Safer prescribing practices for opioid medications.

  • Increased use of medication-assisted addiction treatment (MAT), as part of a comprehensive system of integrated behavioral health care.

  • Increased availability and use of the overdose reversal drug Naloxone.
We invite you to become involved in our coalition.

Thank you for your support in working together to improve the quality of life in the Inland Empire!