St. Anthony Hospital slashes unnecessary ER use, opioid prescriptions

Catholic Health Initiatives St. Anthony Hospital, a critical access community provider in rural Oregon, was able to reduce unnecessary emergency department visits from identified frequent flyers from 17 percent of overall visits to 9 percent within a six-month timespan using care collaboration network technology. As of April 2018, after 18 months of using the technology, the hospital has reduced unnecessary ED visits by identified repetitive emergency department users to just 4.25 percent. Also, within one year, the hospital reduced narcotic pre-pack prescriptions coming out of the emergency department by 60 percent and realized hospital cost savings of $200,000.