CHIME Opioid Action Center Podcast CHIME Opioid Action Center

In this episode, Todd Rowland, MD, Chief Medical Officer at Motiv Health, sits down with Dennis (Denny) Morrison, PhD, Owner of Morrison Consulting, to explore the intersection of psychology, healthcare IT, and behavioral healthcare. Denny shares his insights on how his background has equipped him to lead behavioral healthcare facilities and orchestrate mergers of large networks, shedding light on effective strategies for addressing the opioid crisis. Listeners will gain valuable examples of leveraging technology to promote best practices in reducing opioid use and misuse within healthcare systems. Denny highlights the importance of understanding substance use disorders (SUD) and mental health, particularly for non-behavioral health providers, emphasizing the need for comprehensive approaches to opioid use. The conversation delves into the critical role of partnerships in driving innovative solutions, emphasizing the synergy between people, process, and technology in tackling the opioid crisis. By fostering collaborative relationships, healthcare providers and systems can enhance their ability to address the multifaceted challenges of substance use disorders. 



GUEST 

Dennis (Denny) Morrison, PhD

Owner, Morrison Consulting



MODERATOR 

Todd Rowland, MD

Chief Medical Officer, Motiv Health

Member of the CHIME OTF’s Promoting Leading Practices subcommittee



What you’ll learn about:

– How Dennis (Denny) Morrison, PhD has leveraged his background in psychology and healthcare IT to lead behavioral healthcare facilities and mergers of large networks.

– How healthcare providers and systems, can effectively use technology to promote best practices to reduce opioid use and misuse.

– What all non-behavioral health providers should know about the world of substance use disorder (SUD) and mental health as it relates to opioid use.

– How critical partnerships can help to improve the innovative use of people, process, and technology to address the opioid crisis.

 

The CHIME Opioid Task Force (OTF) was launched in early 2018 with a simple mission: to turn the tide on the opioid epidemic using the knowledge and expertise of the nation’s healthcare IT leaders. While our mission is simple, achieving it is not. Opioid addiction is a complex disease that requires long-term, if not lifetime, care from well-informed clinicians who are supported with easy-to-use and reliable tools.

Gravity Project is an HL7 FHIR Accelerator, collaborative initiative with the goal to develop consensus-driven data standards to support the collection, use, and exchange of data to address the social determinants of health (SDOH). In 2023, Gravity Project was named in the White House “US Playbook to Address the Social Determinants of Health” and ONC’s HTI-1 final rule requiring adoption of USCDI v3 as the standard for certification by January 2016 includes the four Gravity curated SDOH elements. Listen to learn about how data standards can accelerate your work as Health IT professionals to support individuals and families impacted by the opioid crisis.



GUEST 

Vanessa Candelora 

Program Manager, Gravity Project



MODERATOR 

Otto Reemelin 

CIO, Southwest Human Development 

Member of the CHIME OTF’s Technology and Interoperability subcommittee 



What you'll learn about:

- What Gravity Project is and why it exists.

- How it's system agnostic and can be utilized in any EHR/system.

- Gravity Project's existing/current/upcoming work.

- What Gravity Project offers, and who can access it and how.

- Why it was created and what issues and problems it's addressing, with real world examples.

-How Gravity Project can help to reduce the trauma and stress for families of fragile infants seeking care from agencies in the community who specialize in neonatal abstinence syndrome, food insecurity, or housing instability.

-The top 3 takeaways everyone in healthcare IT should know so they can leverage the power of the Gravity Project.



The CHIME Opioid Task Force (OTF) was launched in early 2018 with a simple mission: to turn the tide on the opioid epidemic using the knowledge and expertise of the nation’s healthcare IT leaders. While our mission is simple, achieving it is not. Opioid addiction is a complex disease that requires long-term, if not lifetime, care from well-informed clinicians who are supported with easy-to-use and reliable tools.

Explore the leading-edge work of Virtua Health a comprehensive healthcare system in Southern New Jersey recognized by CHIME in 2023 as a “Most Wired” Level 10 health system, a top honor shared by only 19 U.S. hospitals/health systems. Join moderator Bill Spooner, a retired CIO and Co-chair of CHIME OTF’s Emerging Technology/Interoperability subcommittee, in this illuminating podcast episode. Discover how Virtua Health seamlessly embeds FindHelp into Epic, revolutionizing patient referrals for opioid treatment. Krista Lokan, IT Population Health Architect at Virtua Health, shares the challenges and triumphs of implementing this innovative tool, offering real-time access to vital resources. Learn how FindHelp streamlines patient care, eliminates manual processes, and fosters collaboration among healthcare entities. Gain insights into Virtua's success metrics and their regional efforts to combat substance abuse. Don't miss this insightful conversation on leveraging technology to drive meaningful change in opioid treatment. 



Host: Bill Spooner

A mostly retired CIO and Co-chair of the CHIME OTF’s Technology and Interoperability subcommittee.

Guest: Krista Lokan

IT Population Health Architect, Virtua Health

What you'll learn about:

- Virtua Health, and how they received their Level 10 Most Wired certification in 2023, including for their technology implementations addressing opioids.

- What problems they were you facing, including for electronic referrals.

- What Findhelp is how it can benefit patients, clinicians, operations, and more.

- What tools FindHelp offers & how Virtua Health is utilizing them.

- How Virtua Health is measuring the impact of FindHelp in their community.



For more information from Krista reach out to her on LinkedIn.



The CHIME Opioid Task Force (OTF) was launched in early 2018 with a simple mission: to turn the tide on the opioid epidemic using the knowledge and expertise of the nation’s healthcare IT leaders. While our mission is simple, achieving it is not. Opioid addiction is a complex disease that requires long-term, if not lifetime, care from well-informed clinicians who are supported with easy-to-use and reliable tools.

What you'll learn about:

- Why Dr. Baxter has focused her work and research on pain management.

- What prescribers can do to improve non-medication pain management options for pain control.

- Where the biggest opportunities are for reducing opioid use and how organizations like CHIME can help.

- What administrative IT and clinical IT leaders can do to ensure computerized systems improve the digital monitoring and ordering of both medications and non-medication pain treatment.



Host: Todd Rowland, MD, FAAPMR

Chief Medical Officer, Motiv

Chief Medical Officer, VitalFlo

CEO, Bridge2Medical

Attending Physician, Duke Hospitals

Dr. Todd Rowland has more than 25 years of healthcare experience which includes roles as practicing physician, CEO of health information exchange, CMIO (Chief Medical Information Officer), and most recently enterprise Senior Vice President and CIO. He has worked with multi-disciplinary teams to deliver solutions using several IT platforms which include Allscripts, Cerner, eClinicalWorks, McKesson, MEDITECH, Mirth, Optum, and other technologies.



Guest: Dr. Amy Baxter, MD

Clinical Associate Professor, Augusta University

CEO, Pain Care Labs 

Dr. Amy Baxter, MD is a researcher, physician, and recent TedTalk speaker with a focus around understanding the connections that send pain from your body to your brain. Her insights provide practical neuroscience hacks to quickly block those signals. Her leading edge research offers alternative opioid-free treatment options for immediate pain relief.



TEDTalk : How to Hack your Brain When You're in Pain, Dr. Amy Baxter, MD https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SpaXqAQ4Wo





The CHIME Opioid Task Force (OTF) was launched in early 2018 with a simple mission: to turn the tide on the opioid epidemic using the knowledge and expertise of the nation’s healthcare IT leaders. While our mission is simple, achieving it is not. Opioid addiction is a complex disease that requires long-term, if not lifetime, care from well-informed clinicians who are supported with easy-to-use and reliable tools.

Host: Andy Smith, CFCHE

Co-CEO and Founder, Impact Advisors

Education Co-chair, CHIME Opioid Task Force



Guest: Gregg Dockins

Corrections Division President, Gateway Foundation, Inc.



An employee of Gateway Foundation, Inc. for over 23 years, Gregg is responsible for the administration, operational oversight, and strategic planning and growth of all Corrections Division services.



What you'll learn about:

- Gateway‘s initial approach to the opioid epidemic.

- How has technology has helped their care model.

- What obstacles they have faced around technology.

- What the future of addiction treatment may look like in the corrections setting for providers as well as individuals seeking treatment.

- What all healthcare professionals treating patients for addiction should take away from this conversation.



The CHIME Opioid Task Force (OTF) was launched in early 2018 with a simple mission: to turn the tide on the opioid epidemic using the knowledge and expertise of the nation’s healthcare IT leaders. While our mission is simple, achieving it is not. Opioid addiction is a complex disease that requires long-term, if not lifetime, care from well-informed clinicians who are supported with easy-to-use and reliable tools.

Host: Patty Lavely, CIO Consultant and Co-chair, CHIME Opioid Task Force



Guest: Mike Burger, Senior Consultant, Point-of-Care Partners



What you'll learn about:

- High level overview of the ambulatory EHR landscape.

- If the standard software on the market today provides “opioid tools” to help providers manage patients that are taking opioids or are high risk for addiction/overdose.-

- Third-party software to improve the capabilities including PDMP integration.

- How it all fits (or doesn't) within the clinical workflows in the office.

- If EHRs are typically tied into community services to support patients with SUD.

- Technology differences between independent physician practices vs those owned by health systems/hospitals, and if there's a difference in how they're able to determine the patients at risk.

-Whether, like hospitals, physician practices have come a long way with reducing opioid prescriptions; and if the software has functionality to support changing ordering practices.

- The percentage of physician practices contributing data and viewing data via an HIE (in Mike's experience).

- What health IT leaders do to mitigate the challenges in utilizing the technology to assist with better opioid stewardship and managing patients at risk.



The CHIME Opioid Task Force (OTF) was launched in early 2018 with a simple mission: to turn the tide on the opioid epidemic using the knowledge and expertise of the nation’s healthcare IT leaders. While our mission is simple, achieving it is not. Opioid addiction is a complex disease that requires long-term, if not lifetime, care from well-informed clinicians who are supported with easy-to-use and reliable tools.