COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) _ A St. Louis-area pilot program that’s treated more than
2,000 opioid overdose victims is expanding statewide.
The Columbia Daily Tribune reports Missouri health officials are looking
to implement Engaging Patients in Care Coordination, or EPICC, across the state
within a year. The program will be available in Boone County after Sept. 1st.
The program treats overdose victims at emergency rooms with buprenorphine, a
medication minimizing opioids without the resulting high. It also offers a
peer counselor to help individuals recover from addiction.
Missouri Hospital Association official Leslie Porth says 70 percent of patients
under the pilot program were in treatment six months after visiting the
hospital.
Porth says less than 10 percent of patients had sought treatment six months
after the previous protocol, which sent patients home after treating them with
opioid-overdose antidote naloxone.
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