MHA Podcast Highlights National Recovery Month, Resources in Hospital Emergency Departments

headphones with heart icon in middle.The MHA released another episode of the MiCare Champion Cast, which features interviews with healthcare policy experts in Michigan discussing key issues that impact healthcare and the health of communities.

The episode airs during National Recovery Month. Over the last decade, opioid use disorder (OUD) has risen exponentially across the state and country, impacting people at all walks of life, across all communities, and worsening existing health disparities and inequities.

In the episode, Michelle Norcross, MSA, senior director of safety and quality at the MHA Keystone Center and Marissa Natzke, senior project manager of health and human services at the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan (CFSEM), discuss one of the tools that continues to impactful in this space: Medication for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD). This pathway to recovery involves medications that relieve withdrawal symptoms and substance cravings. In many cases, MOUD treatment is paired with interventions like counseling or peer support so that a person is able to address the social and psychological factors that influence recovery.

Throughout the episode, Norcross and Natzke share details about an innovative partnership between the MHA Keystone Center and CFSEM that brings MOUD programming to hospital emergency departments (EDs). They discuss what this path to recovery looks like specifically, along with the strong, positive impact ED MOUD programming is having on OUD patients in Michigan hospitals.

The episode is available to stream on SpotifyYouTubeApple Podcasts and SoundCloud. To learn more about ED MOUD programming, visit the CFSEM website. If you or someone you know is struggling with opioid use disorder, visit Michigan.gov/opioids or call the SAMSHA National Hotline, a 24-hour, 365-day-a-year, treatment referral hotline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

Grants Available to Fund ED Medication for Opioid Use Disorder Initiative

In partnership with the MHA Keystone Center, Michigan Opioid Partnership and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan (CFSEM) has launched an Emergency Department (ED) Medication for Opioid Use Disorder Initiative and funding opportunity for Michigan hospitals. The initiative aims to increase access to evidence-based medication for opioid use disorder and support the transition to long-term, office-based treatment upon discharge. More information about the initiative is available in an online video.

The next application cycle will open Jan. 3 and close Jan. 21. Additional application cycles during the award period, which ends Sept. 30, will depend upon remaining funding. Grant funds are limited and are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Eligibility will be determined by the number of encounters each hospital has annually to treat patients for opioid-related overdoses. Eligible hospitals are encouraged to coordinate and apply as a system. If two or more eligible hospitals from the same system are interested in applying, they are encouraged to contact the CFSEM to discuss the possibility of applying as a system. Eligibility for grant funding is outlined as follows:

  • Hospitals with more than 100 encounters annually are eligible for technical assistance and up to $150,000.
  • Hospitals with 50-100 encounters annually are eligible for technical assistance and up to $75,000.
  • Hospitals with fewer than 50 encounters annually are eligible for technical assistance and are strongly encouraged to contact the CFSEM if interested. Currently, hospitals with fewer than 50 encounters annually are ineligible for funding.

Application instructions and grant guidelines are available on the CFSEM website, and future application cycles will be posted there. Members may contact the MHA Keystone Center with questions and email CFSEM to learn more or to request a meeting to discuss this opportunity.

Medication for Opioid Use Disorder Cuts Hospital Costs, Improves Patient Care

The MHA Keystone Center is working alongside the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan (CFSEM) through the Michigan Opioid Partnership to provide funding and technical assistance for the emergency department-based medication for opioid use disorder (ED MOUD) program. The program will increase access to medication for OUD statewide and connect patients receiving MOUD with appropriate resources to continue care in the community. An online video provides additional information on the program.

The CFSEM recently released impact stories highlighting successes of the program from previous participants. Andrew King, MD, an emergency room physician at Detroit Medical Center and advisor to the CFSEM, has witnessed the effectiveness of MOUD and reminds practitioners that it is possible to guide those with OUD down a path to recovery.

“I can see the people who are now on medications and feeling much better and doing well. They are happy and putting their lives back together, and that’s a beautiful thing!” King says. “By controlling the disease process, maybe they’re treating their kids or their spouse better or they’re doing a better job at work. That’s the whole point of why we signed up for this job — trying to keep people safe and healthy and in the game for as long as possible.” An article from the CFSEM provides additional information.

The MHA has also been advocating to improve legislation related to ED MOUD by working with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to ensure all hospitals interested in starting an emergency department-based medication assisted treatment program have the funding resources to do so.

Members with questions on the ED MOUD program may contact the MHA Keystone Center.