The Economist Intelligence Unit featured Acus Foundation in a special report on innovative programs successfully combating the opioid epidemic.
Read the report here: http://tacklingopioids.eiu.com/case_study/medical-treatment-including-alternative-practices/
Our goal at Acus is to interrupt the opioid epidemic at its outset: the primary care clinic. As the report’s Executive Summary notes, “practitioners see the problem but don’t always focus on it in the moment of prescribing.” Acus Foundation encourages those doctors to “think acupuncture first.”
Military primary care physicians are on the front lines of the opioid epidemic in the U.S. Patients in acute and chronic pain come to them first, and for this reason, they issue the highest number of opioid prescriptions than any other medical specialty. These doctors are responsible for treating the most complex pain cases, often under severe time constraints. According to the NIH, 75% of opioid addiction and abuse begins with a prescription.
Our flagship program at Nellis AFB in Nevada has demonstrated a 45% reduction in opioid prescriptions among patients who had acupuncture added to their case management. The more physicians and qualified health care providers we train, the greater our ability to reduce opioids on a large scale. Join us and help us spread the word: “More needles, fewer pills”!