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NEW ADVANCEMENTS
LESS MEDS, BETTER RECOVERY Dr. Roger Kierce adapted St. Joseph’s
Emergency Department Alternatives to Opioids (ALTO) program for use by
his ob/gyn patients.
FEWER OPIOIDS FOR
OB/GYN PATIENTS
A new approach to pain management being taken by the
emergency department at St. Joseph’s University Medical Center —
Alternatives to Opioids (ALTO) — is being adopted by doctors in
the hospital’s obstetrics and gynecology department. Dr. Roger
Kierce, chairman of obstetrics and gynecology at St. Joseph’s
Health, Dr. Brian Day and the ob/gyn team at St. Joseph’s
University Medical Center are focusing on reducing prescriptions
for narcotics after surgery; with ALTO, highly addictive narcotics
are prescribed only when necessary, in the lowest effective doses
and for the shortest appropriate time. “We have dropped our
opioid use for post-Caesarean section patients in the hospital by
55 percent, and our discharge opioid prescription rate is below 5
percent by a mutual choice between patient and physician,” says
Kierce. “This is an incredible reduction that lessens the chance of
addiction and enhances patients’ recovery.” ❖
— CINDY SCHWEICH HANDLER
28
2019 EDITION (201) HEALTH
CENTER
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