New York Metropolis’s public hospital system is adopting a revolutionary habit therapy program at its medical facility serving the South Bronx after the identical initiative helped dramatically curb overdose deaths on Staten Island, The Submit has discovered.
Well being + Hospitals will launch the specialised “Hotspotting” therapy program at Lincoln Hospital, because of a $660,000 grant from the Robin Hood Basis.
Underneath the Hotspotting mannequin, sufferers being handled for opioid use within the Lincoln Hospital emergency division shall be linked to a devoted care crew, together with neighborhood well being staff and peer counselors.
For as much as a 12 months following discharge from the hospital, the crew will attain out to sufferers biweekly to supply help and connection to habit companies, medical care, community-based assets, welfare advantages, and housing as wanted.
This system will supply sufferers a cellphone and a service contact to assist them keep linked to care.
This system at Lincoln Hospital expects to serve roughly 150 substance abusers on the highest danger of relapse.
A research of the Hotspotting program run by Northwell Well being’s Staten Island Performing Supplier System, developed with MIT, discovered there have been solely two deadly overdoses amongst 612 individuals, in comparison with 14 deaths for 1,089 addicts not engaged.
The evaluation additionally confirmed a 36% discount in non-fatal overdoses and a 63% discount in substance use disorder-related emergency room visits in comparison with opioid customers not in this system.
“The increasing potency of opioids in New York City requires new and innovative support for
our care for patients with opioid use disorder,” Well being + Hospitals president and
CEO Mitchell Katz mentioned.
“The Hotspotting program will give our patients at Lincoln Hospital up to a year of follow-up care after they leave the hospital for opioid treatment. We are deeply grateful to Robin Hood and the Staten Island Performing Provider System for their support in launching this new model at NYC Health + Hospitals.”
Deadly overdoses in New York Metropolis have greater than doubled for the reason that COVID-19 pandemic — leaping from 1,452 deaths in 2018 to three,046 deaths in 2023, based on metropolis information.
The Bronx has the best fee of opioid overdose dying within the metropolis, and sufferers who expertise a nonfatal overdose are at elevated danger of dying from an overdose sooner or later, officers mentioned.
“The Staten Island PPS is proud to partner with the outstanding and committed professionals at
NYC Health + Hospitals to implement the Hotspotting Program,” mentioned Staten Island
Performing Supplier System (SIPPS) government director Joseph Conte.
He famous that the opioid disaster is a significant issue in black and Latino communities, such because the South Bronx.
“There remains a critical need for more innovation and proactive approaches to save lives, that is the essence of the Hotspotting approach,” Conte mentioned.
Lincoln Hospital is keen to launch the brand new habit therapy program.
“Our Hotspotting program will provide continuity of care as patients transition from the hospital into the community setting and will help them stay connected to healthcare and addiction services,” mentioned Dr. Daniel Schatz, Well being + Hospital’s medical director of substance use dysfunction companies within the workplace of behavioral well being.
