Botticelli M, Gottlieb M, Laderman M. Effective Strategies for Hospitals Responding to the Opioid Crisis. Boston: Institute for Healthcare Improvement and The Grayken Center for Addiction at Boston Medical Center; 2019. (Available at www.ihi.org)

With the growing volume of inpatient admissions and outpatient visits for individuals with a substance use disorder, hospitals have the opportunity to make a major impact in reducing morbidity and mortality related to opioid use, from prevention to screening, to treatment, to engaging with communities to reduce harms.

This document provides hospital and health system administrators and leaders with:

• Specific improvement ideas for five system-level strategies that address the challenges of preventing, identifying, and treating opioid use disorder
• Brief case examples describing other hospitals’ approaches
• Source literature and additional resources, including cost savings data, where applicable