Sec. 7091. Emergency department alternatives to opioids demonstration program
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The Secretary of Health and Human Services (in this section referred to as the Secretary ) shall carry out a demonstration program for purposes of awarding grants to hospitals and emergency departments, including freestanding emergency departments, to develop, implement, enhance, or study alternatives to opioids for pain management in such settings. To be eligible to receive a grant under paragraph (1), a hospital or emergency department shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may require.
In awarding grants under this section, the Secretary shall seek to ensure geographical distribution among grant recipients. Grants under paragraph
(1)shall be used to— target treatment approaches for painful conditions frequently treated in such settings; train providers and other hospital personnel on protocols or best practices related to the use and prescription of opioids and alternatives to opioids for pain management in the emergency department; and develop or continue strategies to provide alternatives to opioids, as appropriate. The Secretary may carry out a demonstration program similar to the program under subsection
(a)for other acute care settings. The Secretary shall implement a process for recipients of grants under subsection
(a)or
(b)to share evidence-based and best practices and promote consultation with persons having robust knowledge, including emergency departments and physicians that have successfully implemented programs that use alternatives to opioids for pain management, as appropriate, such as approaches studied through the National Center for Complimentary and Integrative Health or other institutes and centers at the National Institutes of Health, as appropriate. The Secretary shall offer to each recipient of a grant under subsection
(a)or
(b)technical assistance as necessary. The Secretary shall identify or facilitate the development of best practices on alternatives to opioids for pain management and provide technical assistance to hospitals and other acute care settings on alternatives to opioids for pain management. The technical assistance provided shall be for the purpose of— utilizing information from recipients of a grant under subsection
(a)or
(b)that have successfully implemented alternatives to opioids programs; identifying or facilitating the development of best practices on the use of alternatives to opioids, which may include pain-management strategies that involve non-addictive medical products, non-pharmacologic treatments, and technologies or techniques to identify patients at risk for opioid use disorder; identifying or facilitating the development of best practices on the use of alternatives to opioids that target common painful conditions and include certain patient populations, such as geriatric patients, pregnant women, and children; and disseminating information on the use of alternatives to opioids to providers in acute care settings, which may include emergency departments, outpatient clinics, critical access hospitals, Federally qualified health centers, Indian Health Service health facilities, and tribal hospitals. Each recipient of a grant under this section shall submit to the Secretary (during the period of such grant) annual reports on the progress of the program funded through the grant. These reports shall include, in accordance with all applicable State and Federal privacy laws— a description of and specific information about the opioid alternative pain management programs, including the demographic characteristics of patients who were treated with an alternative pain management protocol, implemented in hospitals, emergency departments, and other acute care settings; data on the opioid alternative pain management strategies used, including the number of opioid prescriptions written— during a baseline period before the program began; or at various stages of the program; and data on patients who were eventually prescribed opioids after alternative pain management protocols and treatments were utilized; and any other information the Secretary determines appropriate. Not later than 1 year after completion of the demonstration program under this section, the Secretary shall submit a report to the Congress on the results of the demonstration program and include in the report— the number of applications received and the number funded; a summary of the reports described in subsection (e), including data that allows for comparison of programs; and recommendations for broader implementation of pain management strategies that encourage the use of alternatives to opioids in hospitals, emergency departments, or other acute care settings. To carry out this section, there is authorized to be appropriated $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 through 2021.