LRGHealthcare is proud to be one of ten hospitals in the country selected to participate in the RADEO (Reducing Adverse Drug Events Related to Opioids) program sponsored by the Society for Hospital Medicine.

Opioids are one of the most common medications associated with adverse patient events affecting nearly 5% of hospitalized patients. The RADEO program provides support and tools to hospitals for the development of programs for safe opioid prescribing and administration.

Through the RADEO program, LRGHealthcare participates in quarterly calls with other hospitals to share best practices, challenges and successes.  Additionally, the Society for Hospital Medicine mentors each participating hospital through monthly phone calls and occasional site visits.

At LRGHealthcare, providers, nurses, pharmacy, IT, and quality improvement are collaborating on this project and have identified three areas of focus. They want to improve the way opioids are ordered, have nurses perform a pre and post pain assessment on all patients who receive an opioid medication, and provide opioid education to all patients going home on opioid medication.

By tracking and trending this data over time, LRGHealthcare can monitor how effective these interventions are in reducing opioid harm to inpatients. They can also identify and troubleshoot any barriers to implementation of these interventions.

The Program runs through April 2018 and is expected to provide LRGHealthcare physicians and nurses with valuable education to provide better care to patients and prevent opioid misuse

LRGHealthcare is a not-for-profit healthcare charitable trust representing Lakes Region General Hospital, Franklin Regional Hospital, and affiliated medical providers. LRGHealthcare’s mission is to provide quality, compassionate care and to strengthen the well being of our community.