COMPREHENSIVE ADDICTION AND RECOVERY ACT 2016
www.cadca.org/comprehensive-addiction-and-recovery–act–cara
On July 22, 2016 President Obama signed into law the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act. In response to the growing opioid epidemic in the United States this Act will address six pillars: Prevention, Treatment, Recovery, Law Enforcement, Criminal Justice Reform, and Overdose Reversal. It will also address the collateral consequences that affect those in recovery who are attempting to rebuild their lives and return to their professions.
According to the CDC, since 1999 deaths from prescription opioids have quadrupled. From 2000-2014 half a million people have died from drug overdoses. 78 Americans die every day from an opioid overdose.
As nurses we have watched the trends of opioid prescription use rise to unprecedented rates. As part of our assessments we are taught to focus on the 5th vital sign. Patient satisfaction, ie. pain control, is linked to financial incentives as part of the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing program (VBP) authorized by the Affordable Care Act. In other words, if patient surveys are low (poor pain control) so are Medicare financial reimbursements.
https://www.cms.gov/Hospital-Value-Based-Purchasing/
As part of Western Medicine philosophy the body is treated as a separate entity than the mind while, in truth, the two are intrinsically linked. The spiritual aspect of human beings is altogether ignored. Alternative methods of pain control are acknowledged as part of the plan of care but it is a reflexive inclination to reach for a narcotic to quickly ease a patient’s pain. Education, adopting new philosophies, and altering mentalities are paramount in effecting change in our medical culture, as well as in our own lives.
American River. Coloma, Ca.