Bamboo Health and the State of Ohio Partner to Reduce Fatal Drug Overdoses

Bamboo’s OD Insights™ solution alerts providers if patients have a prior overdose history

LOUISVILLE, Ky.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In an effort to reduce deaths from drug overdoses, Bamboo Health™, the leader in Real-Time Care Intelligence™, is partnering with the State of Ohio to strengthen its prescription drug monitoring system, called the Ohio Automated Rx Reporting System (OARRS), by adding a feature that alerts healthcare providers if a patient has a prior history of drug overdoses directly in their existing workflows.

Research shows that patients who have experienced a non-fatal drug overdose are at higher risk of a fatal overdose. OD Insights™, a new addition to Bamboo Health’s Prescription Drug Monitoring Program suite, is designed to improve care coordination so that emergency departments can direct high-risk patients to the most appropriate treatment options, including access to medication for opioid use disorder and other tools to prevent fatal overdoses.

By integrating seamlessly into OARRS, OD Insights provides timely, relevant data to support clinical decision-making while maintaining the same safeguards that protect prescription data. It allows providers to securely view a patient’s controlled substance use history at the point of care to support informed prescribing practices as part of a multi-dimensional response to the ongoing opioid epidemic.

“This enhancement to OARRS is a critical step in our fight against the opioid crisis,” said Ohio Board of Pharmacy Executive Director Steven W. Schierholt. “Access to real-time overdose data enhances our ability to support treatment and harm reduction initiatives and ensure that healthcare providers have the information they need to guide patients toward appropriate care. Ohio is committed to using every available tool to prevent unnecessary deaths and support those living with substance use disorder.”

Offering providers the ability to identify high-risk patients can potentially be life-saving. According to the Ohio Board of Pharmacy, in 2022, at least 32% of Ohioans who died from an unintentional drug overdose experienced a prior non-fatal overdose. Additionally, 26% of those who suffered a fatal overdose in 2022 received a prescription for a controlled substance from a healthcare provider within 60 days of their death. Monitoring overdose trends in real-time can help identify communities disproportionately affected by overdose and help providers be better prepared to implement prevention efforts and navigate high-risk patients to appropriate care.

“The Ohio Board of Pharmacy continues to be at the forefront of leveraging technology to address the opioid epidemic,” said Ross Armstrong, Chief Commercial Officer at Bamboo Health. “By integrating overdose history into provider workflows, clinicians have access to critical insights that support informed decision-making at pivotal moments and help connect patients with the right care. We are honored to partner with Ohio to implement OD Insights and believe this initiative will serve as a model for other states looking to expand access to harm reduction and treatment.”

To learn more about Bamboo Health and its PDMP solutions, please visit bamboohealth.com/category-rx-monitoring/.

About Bamboo Health

Bamboo Health empowers healthcare organizations to improve behavioral and physical health outcomes through the most powerful care collaboration network with Real-Time Care Intelligence™. By providing real-time insights during pivotal care moments, clients are enabled to perform life-improving actions and deliver seamless, high-quality and cost-effective whole-person healthcare. From coast to coast, Bamboo Health partners with all major retail pharmacy chains, 52 states and territories, 100% of the top 10 best hospitals and more than half of the country’s largest health plans to improve more than 1 billion patient encounters annually. Connect with Bamboo Health on LinkedIn, X and Facebook. Visit BambooHealth.com to learn more.