Today, we are proud to announce that HCA Healthcare collected 21,137 pounds of unused or expired medications during our sixth annual “Crush the Crisis” national prescription drug take back day. This surpasses last year’s totals and is the most our organization has ever collected during the annual event. In total, HCA Healthcare has now collected more than 88,600 pounds of medication since launching “Crush the Crisis” as an enterprise initiative in 2019.
“I am amazed by the results of this year’s Crush the Crisis. Our colleagues showed up for their communities to help remove unneeded medication before it could fall into the wrong hands. This record-breaking year is a testament to how HCA Healthcare cares for the communities we serve.”
Dr. Randy Fagin, chief medical officer of HCA Healthcare’s National Group
HCA Healthcare facilities across the country partnered with local law enforcement to help communities safely and anonymously dispose of unused or expired medication. An estimated 14.5 million doses of medication were collected at more than 125 collection sites. HCA Healthcare’s “Crush the Crisis” events were held in alignment with the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, which collected 629,953 pounds of medication.
The HCA Healthcare facilities that helped collect the greatest amount of medication during the event this year include:
HCA Healthcare uses data from approximately 43 million annual patient encounters to help continuously improve care. The organization uses the science of “big data” to help reduce prescription drug misuse and transform pain management, with initiatives in surgical, emergency and other care settings, including:
- Enhanced Surgical Recovery (ESR): a multi-modal approach to pain management using pre, intra and post-operative interventions to optimize outcomes. HCA Healthcare’s ESR programs have demonstrated significant improvements in surgical recovery and patient satisfaction, including decreases in opioid usage.
- Electronic Prescribing of Controlled Substances (EPCS): aims to stem increasing rates of opioid-related addiction, misuse diversion and death by making it more difficult for medication-seekers to doctor-shop and alter prescriptions. Physicians have access to aggregated electronic health records, providing data to help them prescribe opioids judiciously.