News

Painless: The Opioid Musical Tours in Fall 2023; Schedules Spring 2024 Tour

Creation of Painless: The Opioid Musical started after Dr. Chad Brummett, Co-Director of OPEN, presented to a group of high school health policy students and asked them who could go home and easily get their hands on unused opioids within an hour. To his surprise, 75% of the students raised their hands. On his drive […]

A New OPEN: The Overdose Prevention Engagement Network

OPEN + MOC: One team, moving forward.  This year, the Opioid Prescribing Engagement Network and the Michigan Opioid Collaborative have integrated to create the Overdose Prevention Engagement Network (OPEN). The new OPEN will focus on supporting community and healthcare organizations through the key pillars of prevention, treatment, and recovery. “The integration of our two teams […]

OPEN Sees Big Successes at the Fall 2023 Take Back Event

The Overdose Prevention Engagement Network (OPEN) has been collaborating with communities and helping organize Take Back Events since 2019. With nearly 5 years of Take Back Events under our belt, this most recent event, which was held on October 28th, has been one of our most successful yet, setting multiple milestone achievements.  “In Fall 2023, […]

Naloxone Vending Machine Now Available in Michigan Medicine Adult Emergency Department

On Wednesday, October 11th, OPEN and Michigan Medicine officially launched access to a new Naloxone Vending Machine in the Adult Emergency Department waiting room. This vending machine is free to the public and allows community members access to Narcan, an intranasal form of naloxone.  “Michigan Medicine has been wonderful to work with on this project,” […]

New Michigan landscape map highlights counties affected hardest by opioid epidemic

ANN ARBOR—A new landscape map and analysis created by the University of Michigan show demographic information with a connection to opioid use disorder, examining data such as unemployment rates, annual income, opioid-related hospitalizations, and physical and mental health and well-being. To create the map, U-M’s Poverty Solutions and Opioid Prescribing Engagement Network (OPEN) used available […]

Connecting Pharmacy Students and Communities for Safe Medication Storage and Disposal

At the beginning of each school year, the University of Michigan College of Pharmacy sends students, old and new, to community pharmacies to share safe storage and disposal materials. In their second year back since the start of COVID-19, the College of Pharmacy partnered with OPEN to help hand out more materials and reach more […]

Read Our Fall 2023 Newsletter

Our Fall newsletter is here! Featuring new resources, information on the Fall 2023 Take Back Event, our exciting upcoming events and more! Read our Fall 2023 newsletter here. Subscribe to our newsletter here. 

OPEN overcomes barriers to identifying, caring for surgical patients at risk of substance use in Michigan Hospitals

Introduction Most Americans will have at least one surgery in their life and potentially be prescribed opioids for postsurgical pain management,1 and 6-10% of surgical patients will continue to use opioids months after a surgery.2 On average, 9.7 million Americans a year misuse opioids, and 19.7 million will be diagnosed with Substance Use Disorder (SUD).3  […]

OPEN Team Attends 2023 Rx Summit

The 2023 Rx Summit In April 2023, the OPEN team attended the 2023 Rx and Illicit Drug Summit in Atlanta, Georgia. The Rx Summit is the largest national collaboration for professionals from local, state, and federal agencies, business, academia, treatment providers, and allied communities impacted by drug misuse. There is much offered at the Rx […]

Read Our Summer 2023 Newsletter

Our Summer newsletter is here! Featuring new programs, information on the Take A.C.T.I.O.N. training courses, our newest OPEN spotlight and more! Read our Summer 2023 newsletter here. Subscribe to our newsletter here. 

OPEN Hits Milestone for 5,000 Naloxone Kits Distributed since 2020

OPEN and Michigan Emergency Department Improvement Collaborative (MEDIC) are excited to have reached over 5,000 naloxone kits distributed to at-risk patients this spring.  Through our Emergency Department Naloxone Distribution Program, we aim to provide patients most vulnerable to future overdose this life-saving overdose reversal medication to take home with them.  “Naloxone is the most effective […]

How we Iterate: A Closer Look at OPEN’s Prescribing Recommendations

One of OPEN’s most important initiatives is our opioid Prescribing Recommendations. Earlier this year, we developed recommendations for a new set of pediatric procedures. In 2022, we added recommendations for additional pediatric procedures and updated many of the existing recommendations for adult surgical procedures. How do we actually go about making these changes? How did […]