Craighead County, AR – Contributed – The Billion Pill Pledge program, powered by Goldfinch Health, will deploy evidence-based opioid minimizing resources to hospitals and providers serving Craighead, Baxter, Phillips, and Pope Counties. 

St. Bernards announced its participation in the program on March 20.

Arkansas currently faces a critical public health challenge as it ranks as the highest opioid-prescribing state in the nation. Prescription opioids continue to fuel the rates of new addiction, with one recent study finding 75 percent of illegal opioid use started with prescription pills.

Surgery has historically served as a leading gateway to initial opioid use and leftover pills, with 6 to 10 percent of patients who weren’t taking an opioid becoming persistent users following a surgical procedure. 

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Through this funding, participating hospitals and providers in the region will implement industry-leading protocols designed to better manage surgery-related pain and improve surgery outcomes while minimizing the introduction of large quantities of unnecessary opioids into the community.

“The Arkansas Opioid Recovery Partnership, in partnership with Goldfinch Health’s Billion Pill Pledge program, intends to create a new, futuristic path in Arkansas cities and counties by an innovative way encouraging prevention, to prevent opioid addiction while treating pain better,” said Kirk Lane, director of the Arkansas Opioid Recovery Partnership.

Lane continued, “The Billion Pill Pledge is not about restricting prescriptions. It is a pilot program aimed at providing more effective, safer options. Our hope is that the Billion Pill Pledge program will be able to demonstrate a change in opioid at-risk communities who are being harmed by the opioid epidemic. We believe this program will bring about change by focusing on evidence-based, alternative pain management, to change the culture of what it has been for too long that was the root cause of the epidemic.”

| READ MORE: St. Bernards launches program to improve pain management, reduce opioid use after surgeries

Over the next two years, Goldfinch Health will partner with hospitals in Craighead, Baxter, Phillips, and Pope Counties. The initiative provides a multi-pronged approach to surgical recovery, including:

• Helping hospitals to adopt enhanced surgical pathways that minimize opioid use while improving recovery.
• Educating and assisting healthcare professionals in the implementation of updated pain management and opioid prescribing protocols
• Providing options for safe disposal of leftover opioids

In addition, through the program, patients will have access to remote Nurse Navigators, who provide education, advocacy, and support in the days before and after procedures. Patients will also receive a “Prepared for Surgery” tool kit featuring items key to optimizing the surgical experience and reducing opioid risks for patients, families, and communities.

This project is supported by Arkansas mayors Hillrey Adams of Mountain Home, Harold Copenhaver of Jonesboro, Don Etherly of Helena, and Fred Teague of Russellville, and judges Kevin Litty of Baxter County, Marvin Day of Craighead County, Clark Hall of Phillips County, and Ben Cross of Pope County.

Participating hospitals will be announced in the coming weeks.

For support in navigating an opioid-minimizing surgery, please contact Goldfinch Health utilizing the following website: GoldfinchHealth.com/Contact-Us.

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