McKinney hospitals implement programs to fight opioid crisis

“As physicians, we’ve had a paradigm shift in the way we look at management of pain and, in general, pain control,” she said. Baylor Scott & White Medical Center-McKinney is also using this approach to manage pain. In addition, the hospital is now assigning a single healthcare provider to each patient to lead the course of the patient’s care and monitor pain management. And with the hospital’s use of minimally invasive surgery, recovery times are shorter and create less discomfort, Dr. William Montgomery, an orthopedic surgeon with Baylor Scott and White Medical Center-McKinney, and Dr. Laurie Novosad, a colorectal surgeon at the hospital, said in an email.

“This allows us to prescribe less opioid medication to patients and get them back to their normal life sooner,” the email stated.

Methodist McKinney Hospital, meanwhile, is prioritizing pain assessment and management.

“We have dedicated a multidisciplinary team to promote education and change in order to improve practices surrounding how we partner with patients to manage their pain in the safest way possible,” Joe Minissale, president of Methodist McKinney Hospital, said in a statement.

As part of its Crush the Crisis initiative, Medical City Healthcare is introducing new pain management strategies in its facilities. Kumar said these alternatives to prescribed drugs for post-surgery patients include distraction techniques, such as hot and cold therapy and massage therapy.

While reducing prescription rates is a step hospitals can take to reduce initial addiction, Lynch noted that illegal opioids also pose a serious problem.

“Illicit and re-manufactured fentanyl could be 50-100 times more potent than morphine,” Lynch said. “You also have the illegal drug trade, and it is significant. It’s a crisis.”

Proper disposal

The third phase of Medical City McKinney’s Crush the Crisis initiative focuses on educating the community about the dangers of opioids and stressing the importance of safely disposing of unwanted medication.

Drug take-back boxes were installed in 12 Medical City hospitals in September, including one at Medical City McKinney, to provide locations to safely and anonymously drop off prescription opioids and other unwanted or expired medications.

It is important to use safe medication disposal methods, Lynch said, because flushing medication down a toilet or a drain can create potential health and environmental hazards.

Kumar also encouraged patients to use the drop boxes because leaving prescription drugs lying around the house can inadvertently make the drugs accessible to people who are already addicted to them, she said.

“About half of the people who misuse opioids actually obtained them from stealing them from someone they know,” she said. “If you’re prescribed opioids, you have to be responsible enough to save them and return them back if you don’t need them.”

For people already struggling with opioid addiction, a list of local treatment resources can be found on the federal government’s Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration website.

“The community should come together and view addiction as a chronic disorder and not just as a taboo on drug addiction,” Kumar said.

Editor's note: The original post has been edited to correct an error referencing Methodist McKinney Hospital.