Home > Description of a pharmacist-led clinical video telehealth group clinic for opioid overdose prevention and naloxone education.

Jensen, Aimee N and Beam, Candace M and Douglass, Amber R and Brabson, Jennifer E and Colvard, Michelle and Bean, Jennifer (2019) Description of a pharmacist-led clinical video telehealth group clinic for opioid overdose prevention and naloxone education. The Mental Health Clinician, 9, (4), pp. 294-297. doi: 10.9740/mhc.2019.07.294.

External website: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC66079...

To achieve the nationwide goal of reducing opioid-related deaths, a clinical pharmacy specialist-led clinical video telehealth (CVT) clinic was created at a Veterans Affairs medical center (VAMC) to deliver opioid overdose prevention and naloxone education to at-risk patients. The purpose of this innovative practice was to improve access to this potentially life-saving intervention to patients across urban and rural areas. This study is a single-center, descriptive analysis of adult patients across 2 VAMC campuses and 4 community-based outpatient clinics from July 11, 2016, through December 31, 2016. The purpose of this innovative practice was to increase access to overdose education and naloxone distribution (OEND) to at-risk patients across urban and rural areas. Patient-specific factors were also examined among those receiving naloxone through the CVT clinic compared to other prescribers. During the first 6 months from the initiation of the clinic, 1 pharmacist prescribed 21% of the health care system's naloxone. These patients identified by the pharmacist-led CVT clinic were more likely to be considered high-risk due to concomitant use of opioids and benzodiazepines. In conclusion, the pharmacist-led CVT group clinic has been an efficient strategy to extend OEND services to high-risk patients beyond central, urban areas.


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