Washington state health officials on Monday announced a new program to help emergency room doctors prescribe medication to treat opioid addiction.
ScalaNW, a state health department program, provides 24/7 live clinical support to hospitals and emergency rooms looking to provide patients with medication for opioid use disorder.
Officials hope ScalaNW will make doctors more comfortable prescribing drugs such as buprenorphine and methadone, which have been shown to significantly reduce deaths among people with opioid addiction.
Most people in Washington state who are at high risk of dying from an overdose have visited an emergency department in the past 12 months, said Liz Wolkin, a program manager for the health authority. “So we know we have patients who could benefit,” Wolkin said.
“The goal is not to send people to receive treatment, but to recognize people who could benefit from treatment,” Wolkin added.
Hospitals that sign up for the hotline, offered in partnership with the University of Washington Psychiatry Helpline, will also receive support from the Washington Recovery Helpline and access to 24/7 follow-up appointments provided to patients before they are discharged from the emergency room.
ScalaNW’s website, ScalaNW.org, provides clinicians with “evidence-backed protocols” for determining how and when to provide medications for opioid use disorder for all hospitals in the state, not just those registered with the helpline.
Statewide, about 14 hospitals have signed up so far, in more populous counties like Pierce and King, but also rural counties with higher epidemics like Okanagan, Wolkin said. Scala NW will be funded using about $970,000 in provincial opioid settlement funds allocated to health authorities during the 2023-2025 budget cycle.
Related: How Washington counties are spending millions in opioid settlements
“The goal of ScalaNW is to be a truly centralized statewide resource, rather than each county or each hospital pooling staff, funding and resources to develop these programs at their own facilities,” Wolkin said.
Studies have shown that fewer than 9 percent of overdose-related emergency room visits result in a prescription for opioid use disorder, but an analysis of King County emergency rooms found that patients are far more likely to die from another overdose within 30 days of receiving treatment at a hospital.
Dr. Chris Bresch, an emergency physician at Seattle Children’s Hospital and an associate professor of emergency medicine at the University of Washington, said this reluctance stems from a history of strict federal regulation of opioid medications: Prescribing buprenorphine once required extra training, and methadone remains heavily regulated.
“It just seems like the drugs are somehow more dangerous,” Bresch said. “There’s nothing else like it. You can prescribe a deadly drug without any additional training.”
Bresch added that both drugs, especially buprenorphine, are “extremely safe” for adults and that there’s little that’s more dangerous than continued fentanyl use.
“People who use drugs are just like you and me and everyone else. They’re human beings and they deserve the best care we can provide,” Bresch said. “That’s what these drugs are and that’s what this website does.”
The Washington State Standard is part of the States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public benefit organization. The Washington State Standard maintains editorial independence. If you have questions, please contact Editor Bill Lucia at 1-800-468-4422. [email protected]Follow Washington State Standard on Facebook twitter.
Get morning headlines delivered to your inbox
