The National Association of American Veterans, Inc. (NAAV) President, Chief Executive Officer, and Veterans Service Officer Constance A. Burn was a participant at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Service Officers Bi-Monthly Meeting held at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Under Secretary of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) held at the Central Office VA on Friday, March 23, 2018 from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. The meeting focus on Opioid Safety Initiatives; White House/Executive Order with input from Veterans Service Officers regarding work on the implementation efforts; and VHA Clinical Appeals process with vital questions from Dr. Toby Schonfeld, Acting Executive Director of the National Center for Ethics in Health Care who also requested feedback for the VSO organizations by Friday, March 30th.
Currently, the VA is seeking to expand Medication Assisted Therapy (MAT) for opioid use disorder (OUD); continue aggressive Naloxone distribution; and continue Opioid Safety Initiative.
Opioid Safety Recommendations:
VA is working to systemically change our culture to establish a collaborative approach with Veterans to safely and effectively treat their pain while also minimizing the use of opioids.
VA’s Opioid Safety Initiative has use by over 41 percent over the past 4 years.
VA is working to ensure the safety of Veterans, staff, and first responders by increasing the availability of the lifesaving drug Naloxone through the Opioid Overdose Education and Naloxone Distribution (OEND) initiative.
For more information on the Department of Veterans Affairs Opioid Prescribing Data visit:
https://www.pbm.va.gov/PBM/academicdetailingservice/AboutUs.asp
https://www.mentalhealth.va.gov/substanceabuse.asp
https://www.healthquality.va.gov/guidelines/Pain/cot/