SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--HSTpathways, the leading provider of cloud-based, ambulatory surgery center (ASC) management software, hosted a focus group on May 16 for top ASC industry leaders and former White House Deputy Director of Domestic Policy Lance Leggitt to discuss steps the ASC industry can take to combat the country’s opioid crisis as it related to post-surgical opioid dependency. Leaders weighed in on how ASCs can make an impact by using proactive risk scoring, prevention, education, and reporting on outcomes related to the use of opioids in outpatient surgeries. HST’s focus group, titled “Addressing the Opioid Crisis in ASCs,” supports the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association’s comprehensive solution to address the abuse and misuse of opioids. It took place during the 2019 Ambulatory Surgery Center Association’s Annual Conference held in Nashville, TN.
From 1999 to 2017, more than 700,000 Americans have died from drug overdoses, and 68% of 70,200 deaths in 2017 involved an opioid. On average, 130 Americans die every day from an opioid overdose.1
“Opioids cause more deaths than gun violence, more deaths than car accidents, more deaths than breast cancer and HIV,” said Leggitt. “It knows no geographic, socioeconomic or age boundaries – it hits everybody. If you go back into the ’60s and you look at people who were using heroin, 80% of heroin users basically started because they were doing illegal drugs. Fast-forward to 2000, and 80% of the people addicted to opioids started because of prescription drugs, not illegal drugs. It will take a collaborative effort on the part of all stakeholders to turn the tide of this public health emergency. The ASC industry should be commended for joining the fight and engaging on this issue.”
“The opioid crisis is the largest public health crisis in decades, and the ASC industry wants to be vigilant to better tailor our prevention efforts by best identifying patients predisposed to opioid addiction,” said Tom Hui, CEO of HST. “We are pleased to receive Lance Leggitt’s input, as he was instrumental in providing insight into the legislative efforts ongoing to fight the opioid epidemic.”
“Two-thirds of all surgeries are done in an outpatient setting today, and if 12% of all soft tissue and orthopedic cases are coming out as newly addicted, that’s a huge number2,” said Tara Vail, COO of HST. “The ASC industry can positively impact millions of lives by reducing that number; and not just for the addicted, but for their families and the communities around them. It is really important as a surgery industry that we seriously look at this issue.”
HST works with ASCs of all sizes, with more than 750 clients, including 50 multi-facility corporate enterprises, ASC management companies, and hundreds of free-standing ambulatory surgery centers and ASC-hospital joint ventures.
About HSTpathways
HSTpathways is a top-ranked, cloud-based Ambulatory Surgery Center software company dedicated to serving the ASC industry. HST was named KLAS Category Leader for Ambulatory Surgical Center Solutions in the “2018 Best in KLAS: Software & Services ” report. Clients include more than 750 organizations such as freestanding ambulatory surgery centers and ASC-hospital joint ventures, as well as 50 multi-facility corporate enterprises. HST provides the most trusted enterprise software management solution available to the ASC industry. HST offers specialized software solutions to help ASC organizations achieve efficiencies with surgical scheduling, supply chain management, EHR clinical workflows, medical coding, insurance and patient billing, and accounts receivable collections. For more information, visit www.HSTpathways.com.
1 Wide-ranging online data for epidemiologic research (WONDER). Atlanta, GA: CDC, National Center for Health Statistics; 2017. Available at http://wonder.cdc.gov.
2 Exposing a Silent Gateway to Persistent Opioid Use, A Choices Matter Status Report
