“When we started offering treatment for opioid use disorder in the emergency room, we worried there would be long lines for Suboxone, but that didn’t happen. Instead, patients began to feel more comfortable talking about their drug use, and I felt like I finally had a way to help them, which improved our trust and communication.”
— Justin Bennett MD
Board Certified Emergency Physician, BlueWater Health
Healthcare Providers Working Together to Prevent Overdose Deaths
Maine healthcare providers are joining forces with healthcare organizations to tackle the opioid crisis through the 1000 Lives Campaign. Led by doctors and other healthcare workers, this effort aims to prevent 1,000 opioid overdose deaths over the next five years. Hospitals, clinics, emergency departments, pharmacies and more are working together to save lives by following consistent “bundles” of care.
In healthcare, a bundle is a small set of steps that helps make care better and safer. The goal is to always do the same four or five steps every time care is given. This ensures that patients receive the best possible care, no matter where they are treated.
Each type of healthcare provider in the 1000 Lives Campaign will use their own bundle designed to save lives.
Emergency Departments (EDs) will use a bundle that includes offering to start buprenorphine in the emergency department to treat opioid use disorder (OUD) giving a buprenorphine prescription at discharge sufficient to get the patient to a follow-up prescriber, and giving naloxone, a medicine that can reverse overdoses, for patients to take home.
Hospital inpatient care providers will follow a bundle that includes offering to start patients with OUD on buprenorphine while in the hospital, and making sure patients already on OUD treatment meds stay on their medications — such as buprenorphine or methadone — while in the hospital to help patients maintain their recovery without interruption. It also includes giving a patient a buprenorphine prescription sufficient to get them to a follow-up prescriber.
Primary care providers ensure that patients with OUD who have been started on buprenorphine receive timely follow-up care after leaving the ED, hospital, or correctional facility for opioid-related issues. They use a comprehensive care bundle to facilitate quick access to appointments, aiming to prevent relapse by ensuring that buprenorphine prescriptions are renewed without interruption. This coordinated approach helps maintain continuity of care and supports recovery during the critical transition period after discharge.
Specialty care providers such as dentists and surgeons will use a bundle that reduces the use of new opioids during surgeries and offers safer options for pain control, especially for younger patients.
Behavioral health providers will offer medications for opioid use disorder or help patients find specialists, following a bundle that assists patients in getting the support they need.
While not all healthcare organizations are participating yet, more and more across Maine are joining the 1000 Lives Campaign and committing to these life-saving bundles. The Campaign is working with pharmacies and correctional facilities and other sites of care to see what their bundles of care should be, and how the Campaign can help.
This campaign shows how powerful teamwork can be.
By working together, Maine’s healthcare providers are joining the fight against the opioid epidemic.
The 1000 Lives Campaign proves that with the right care, consistent steps, and collaboration, we can make a real difference in fighting this crisis.