According to 9 Million Opioid Prescriptions, a report by Health Quality Ontario, nearly two million people in Ontario fill prescriptions for opioids every year — translating into one in every seven Ontarians, or 14% of the province’s population.
And in 2014 alone, there were 3,200 opioid-related emergency department visits in Ontario, according to another report.
A first-of-its-kind program, Mentoring, Education, and Clinical Tools for Addiction: Primary Care-Hospital Integration (META:PHI), reduces emergency room visits for opioid and alcohol addictions and improves patient care.
META:PHI provides patients with easy and fast referral between emergency departments, addiction specialists and family physicians.
Developed at Women’s College Hospital in Toronto, the program’s rapid-access clinics have spread to seven cities across Ontario thanks to support from ARTIC.
Patients have reported the clinic’s patient-centred approach made them feel less stigmatized – something patients living with addiction often feel.
META:PHI is having a real impact on people’s lives.
The program is expected to spread more in years to come.
For more information about ARTIC, please email us at ARTIC@HQOntario.ca.