A recent analysis done by healthcare improvement company Premier uncovered that approximately $1.94 billion in annual hospital costs were attributable to patients suffering from opioid overdose between October 2017 and October 2018. This analysis was based on the study of 647 healthcare facilities.

Roshni Ghosh, MD, MPH, Vice President and Chief Medical Information Officer at Premier stressed that there is an urgent need to provide health systems and emergency caregivers with frontline solutions, which can be used to control opioid addiction.

Hospital costs were more among almost 100,000 opioid overdose patients with nearly 430,000 total emergency department, inpatient, other caregiving settings visits during the period. Care in the emergency department totaled over $632 million in hospital costs.

Almost one-half of patients (47 percent) were treated and released. While 53 percent were treated and admitted. Treating patients and releasing them add to long-term healthcare costs. But, patients admitted post-emergency department treatment incurred high costs.

An extrapolation of the hospital cost data revealed that opioid overdose patients would add about $11.3 billion to the healthcare system each year, or one percent of all hospital expenditure.

Opioid addiction engagement solutions can provide better healthcare solution to patients suffering from opioid addiction.