Health Care | Adocacy & Prevention | Human Resources | Treatment | Law Enforcement
Sessions at the National Rx Drug Abuse Summit are organized into five educational tracks tailored to provide stakeholders timely and relevant information for their particular field. Click on the links below each description to view details about tracks in each subject area.
Download a 1-page summary of Summit Track Descriptions (PDF).
Health Care
In addition to its devastating impact on individuals, families and communities, prescription drug abuse exacts a heavy toll on our health care system. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, an estimated 16 million people aged 12 and older in the United States used prescription drugs for non-medical purposes in 2010. Medical professionals concerned about their patients’ injuries and illnesses don’t always have the training or resources to identify and treat the underlying issues. Failure to recognize addiction as a disease, to properly assess a patient’s risk level, or to implement best practices increases the cost of delivering care, unknowingly contributes to an addiction, and increases potential liability for providers. Health care providers play a crucial role in reducing drug use and its consequences. Participants will explore the disease of addiction, value of prescription monitoring programs, responsible prescribing practices, patient education, best practices in pain management, use of opioids and the growing incidence of drug-related overdoses.
View details about Healthcare presentations
Return to the top
Advocacy & Prevention
Prescription drug abuse has grown at an alarming rate over the past decade. Individual efforts to reverse this trend have met with some success, but the real key is to attack the problem with a comprehensive, coordinated and all-inclusive effort. Failure to be proactive in seeking solutions has dire human and financial consequences. For example, according to the Centers for Disease Control, drug overdose rates have more than tripled since 1990 and, just as alarming, according to the National Center on Substance Abuse and Child Welfare, at least 75 percent of all child abuse or neglect cases involved substance abuse by parents or caregivers. These sessions will provide an overview of effective solutions in both urban and rural communities, provide examples of successful coalitions with specific recommendations for your community, outline specific steps that can be used to involve multiple stakeholders, and provide models for creating long-lasting change. Topics will include engaging community support among business, education, law enforcement, medical professionals and government organizations; advocating for policy change; rallying and motivating volunteers; and reaching at-risk youth. A highlight of this track is a panel discussion with some of this nation’s top prevention leaders.
View details about Advocacy & Prevention presentations
Return to the top
Human Resources
Long-term economic development is threatened by the increase in prescription drug abuse. According to the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud, drug diversion costs health insurers up to $72.5 billion a year in bogus claims involving opioid abuse alone. Workers dealing with addiction issues, either personally or within their family, become a liability instead of an asset. When this occurs, employers need to be equipped with the knowledge and skills to assist their employees while protecting their own well-being. These presentations will outline the scope of abuse, detail specific impacts (both economic and legal) to employers, provide successful strategies for managing risks, share strategies on assisting employees with a suspected addiction, empower employees to become involved in community anti-drug efforts, and explain steps that can be taken to lower health care and workers compensation costs.
View details about Human Resources presentations
Return to the top
Treatment
With the growth of substance abuse comes a corresponding increase in the need for effective treatment of addiction-related incidents. Admissions for prescription drug-related problems are overwhelming our health care and public service systems. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), prescription-related admissions for opioid-related treatment increased from eight percent in 1999 to 33 percent in 2009. Improving access to quality treatment requires a multi-faceted approach. Effective treatment and intervention strategies include understanding the availability of resources and building community support. Session presentations include understanding the relationship between chronic pain and addiction; importance of early intervention for youth exhibiting signs of abuse or dealing with addiction in the home; addressing the unique medical needs of the elderly; reducing recidivism rates; and examining a variety of successful treatment and recovery models.
View details about Treatment presentations
Return to the top
Law Enforcement
Stopping the lucrative drug trafficking trade has evolved from making street-level arrests to more complex, multi-state networks. The proliferation of “clinics” that dole out prescriptions by the thousands, with little or no medical legitimacy, now requires regional, multi-jurisdictional approaches. Use of electronic monitoring, collaborating with medical professionals, Drug Courts and targeting unscrupulous pain management centers have resulted in modest success. Criminal justice officials conservatively estimate that at least 70-80 percent of all criminal arrests are drug related, putting a strain on limited enforcement resources. According to the Centers for Disease Control, drug-induced deaths now outnumber traffic fatalities for the first time in 30 years due to the rise in abuse of addictive prescription drugs. Session participants will receive training on strategies for multi-jurisdictional cooperation, working with prescribers and dispensers, identifying and interdicting drug trafficking organizations and pill mills, engaging community partners, and attacking the issue through education and prevention programs.
View details about Law Enforcement presentations
Return to the top
