News

OPEN Sunsets Two Current Offerings; Welcomes Four Brand New Programs going into 2025

On December 13th, OPEN officially sunsetted two of its community programs; Medication Disposal Products and Safe Storage Locking Pill Bottles. Together, these programs helped thousands of people across Michigan. Final awards will be sent to organizations during the beginning of 2025. The Medication Disposal Products program allowed organizations to apply to receive Deterra Medication Pouches […]

OPEN Works to Monitor Trends in Opioid Prescribing and Persistent Use After Surgery

Postoperative opioid prescribing is meant to address moderate-to-severe pain that can’t be controlled by over-the-counter medications. Yet, prescriptions after surgery can pose unintended risks of prolonged use.1 Several recent studies suggest that inappropriate postoperative opioid prescribing is correlated with increased opioid use, as well as new persistent use among opioid naive patients – defined as […]

One Year Later: What’s Been Happening with OPEN’s Naloxone Vending Machines

Exactly one year ago today, on October 11th, 2023, OPEN and Michigan Medicine unveiled the first naloxone vending machine as part of our Naloxone Distribution and Vending Machine program in the Adult Emergency Department waiting room. This program started with the goal of bringing free access to naloxone to as many people across Michigan as […]

U-M awarded $3.6M to study post-surgery pain management for individuals with opioid use disorder – Office of the Vice President of Research

The University of Michigan will use a new $3.6 million federal grant to study how pain and opioids after surgery impact people with opioid use disorder, how guidelines might be adjusted to address postsurgical pain and how to prevent opioid-related harms. The five-year study funded by the National Institutes of Health will ask patients undergoing […]

OPEN Develops Youth Board to Create Resources for Teen Opioid Use Education

At the end of August 2024, OPEN unveiled a brand new initiative: OPEN Teen. This page was created after many months of collaboration with youth leaders, analyzing and dissecting research to compile resources and information designed by teens and catered to teens.  In 2019, OPEN collaborated with Dr. Karen Cooper, an otolaryngologist at the University […]

Michigan Society of Anesthesiologists applaud OPEN’s anesthesiologists for approaches to curb opioid use, manage pain, keep patients safe – Michigan Society of Anesthesiologists

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Ahead of National Opioid Awareness Day on Sept. 21, the Michigan Society of Anesthesiologists is applauding the Overdose Prevention Engagement Network (OPEN) for their great work to share new evidence-based Opioid Prescribing Recommendations with clinicians across the state. Anesthesiologists with OPEN are leading the way to share innovative methods to better treat pain, reduce the use of opioids […]

OPEN Achieves 10,000 Download Milestone for Educational Resources

On July 1st, 2024, OPEN officially reached the milestone of 10,000 downloads for our educational resources. OPEN’s materials cover a variety of topics from pain management techniques to naloxone facts to safe use supplies. OPEN has been tracking total downloads since 2020, and previously hit the 5,000 download milestone in January of 2023.  Emily McKanna, […]

University of Pittsburgh Nursing Anesthesia Student utilizes OPEN Materials as part of DNP Project

Over the past year, Registered Nurse and current Nursing Anesthesia student at the University of Pittsburgh Courtney Tague utilized two OPEN brochures as a part of her Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) project. Her project, titled “Preoperative Education and Confidence and Knowledge Regarding Postoperative Pain Control in Patients Undergoing Elective General Surgery,” looked at how […]

Michigan Pain Consultants Clinic Closure

Dear OPEN Community, It has come to our attention that Michigan Pain Consultants, a large pain management group with multiple practices in West Michigan, has filed for bankruptcy and will be closing in August 2024. This closure will increase demand for complex pain management services from primary care clinicians in the region. The Overdose Prevention […]

Newsletter Summer 2024: News, Resources, Events and More!

Happy summer 2024! We are thrilled to have you join us as we share exciting updates, valuable resources, and upcoming events. Clinicians, do you ever wish you could ‘phone a friend’ for advice when dealing with challenging situations related to substance use? OPEN offers FREE same day clinician-to-clinician consultation services. As one of the on-call […]

OPEN Team Attends 2024 Rx Summit

This past April, team members visited Atlanta, Georgia for the 2024 Rx and Illicit Drug Summit. The Rx Summit is the largest national collaboration for professionals from local, state, and federal organizations to gather and discuss the impact of the drug epidemic. Attendees can collaborate and learn in multiple ways, including visiting exhibitor booths, viewing […]

OPEN, Safe Rx Partner to Provide Locking Pill Vials to Community Organizations

Throughout 2023, OPEN began distributing Safe Rx Locking Pill Vials (LPVs) to conference attendees as a way to promote safe storage of medications. It became clear very quickly that there was a need, and demand, from community members and organizations alike for resources like this. To get LPVs into the hands of more people, OPEN […]