Overview
Hospitals and other health care providers throughout Maryland face an ever-growing number of patients
who need treatment for addiction to prescription and illicit opioid drugs, and the outcomes of addiction are
painfully well-known — overdose and death.
In response, the Maryland Hospital Association’s (MHA) Executive Committee directed MHA’s Council
on Clinical & Quality Issues to develop provider-focused strategies to address opioid misuse. The first
resource the council developed — a set of guidelines to standardize opioid medication use and prescribing
in emergency departments — is now available. The guidelines have been unanimously adopted by MHA’s
Executive Committee, and formally endorsed by the Maryland Chapter of the College of Emergency
Physicians.
The guidelines have several objectives. Foremost, they seek to ensure responsible and appropriate
prescribing by all hospitals and providers while securing proper treatment of emergency medical
conditions, including treatment of pain. They also promote education of providers and patients to help
detect and treat existing substance abuse conditions and safeguard patients against the risk of developing an
opioid addiction. Another objective is to reduce unnecessary prescriptions (and the number of pills
prescribed) to reduce either inadvertent or purposeful misuse of opioid medication (exposure to opioids for
legitimate medical needs often leads to other substance abuse).
ED Opioid Management Commitment
Hospitals, particularly Emergency Department personnel, recognize the importance of appropriate
prescribing practices, including educating patients on medication risks and benefits, as one part of a
solution to the opioid misuse epidemic. Our hospital is committed to working with our staff and to
providing resources for implementation of these guidelines as appropriate for the patients and communities
we serve.
Specifically, our institution is committed to:
Working with our ED personnel to implement, as medically appropriate, the Maryland Emergency
Department Opioid Prescribing Guidelines
Providing MHA with periodic updates on the progress of implementation
Hospital: __________________________________________________________________________
CEO Signature: ________________________________________ Date: _______________________
ED Chief/ED Chair Signature: _____________________________ Date: _______________________
ED Contact Name: _________________________________ Title: ____________________________
ED Contact Email: __________________________________________________________________
Please fax or email this form to Nicole Stallings at nstallings@mhaonline.org or 410-379-8239.