Prescriby’s digital tool designed to help patients taper off addictive medications
June 6, 2024 (Oakville, ON) – As part of the Coordinated Accessible National (CAN) Health Network, Newfoundland and Labrador (NL) Health Services is partnering on a project with Prescriby, a company that has developed a data-driven platform to decrease the management of addictive medications. This 12-month commercialization project is designed to evaluate the impact of a new digital platform for safer management of necessary opioid prescriptions from the first use.
As part of this project, NL Health Services will be using the Prescriby platform at the Western Memorial Health Clinic in Corner Brook, the Holyrood Family Team Clinic in Holyrood, and at the Opioid Treatment Centre in St. John’s. The platform will provide support to clinicians to administer safer opioid tapering treatment plan for patients, both from initial use and those who have developed physical tolerance and dependence on certain medications.
“NL Health Services values innovative solutions that will benefit our patients, clients and clinicians by providing a mechanism to help patients safely reduce their use of addictive medications,” said Ron Johnson, Vice President for Research and Innovation, NL Health Services. “As a living lab, NL Health Services is open to working with different companies to help them test, customize and validate innovations. We look forward to working to testing this solution to enhance the safe management of prescription opioids.”
Opioid prescribing is widespread throughout Canada, with an estimated 5.5 per cent of those prescribed opioids developing dependence. Opioid use disorder (OUD) can develop through prolonged treatment, lack of support and patient education, inadequate clinical management of the prescribed drugs and the lack of capability to provide early intervention through tapering plans. Once OUD has developed, patients have a high risk of mortality and the treatment is costly and can last for many years.
The goal of the platform is to limit the number of patients that develop opioid use disorder and provide support for those who end up with chronic opioid use. Prescriby is designed to provide safer treatments, increase patient access to supports, and prevent overprescribing.
Prescriby is a company based in Newfoundland and Labrador, and Iceland. The solution features a cloud-based software platform, accessible through a web browser or an app, with two interfaces – one for clinicians to create treatment plans, and another for patients to access their plan and education material.
“I’m driven by a deeply personal mission – to combat the opioid crisis and prevent individuals in our communities from developing addiction,” said Kevin Oram, Co-founder and health-care executive with Prescriby. “Clinicians are asking for tools to safely prescribe these addictive medications and to provide patients with individualized treatment plans and educational resources. At Prescriby, we believe that more focus should be on providing early intervention to those individuals who are prescribed opioids, with the goal of reducing the harm from the opioid crisis.”
By improving access to treatment plans for patients, the project aims to elevate the clinician and patient experience while alleviating the economic and social burden of the opioid crisis. Clinicians benefit from streamlined workflows and access to digital resources, so they can make informed decisions efficiently. Patients gain access to their care plans and education, improve their understanding of opioid risks and tools that support better self-management of their health.
“Opioid use disorder is one of the greatest crises impacting health care today, not only in Canada, but around the world,” said Dr. Dante Morra, Founder and Chair, CAN Health Network. “We look forward to seeing the impact of this innovative solution on preventing addiction, and supporting patients, families and health care providers.”
The CAN Health Network provides companies like Prescriby with access to real health care environments where they can implement their market-ready solutions, gain valuable feedback from end users and scale across the Network and beyond.
“The CAN Health Network is doing important work to improve health care experiences for all Canadians, including those with addictions,” said The Honourable Rechie Valdez, Minister of Small Business. “The partnership between NL Health Services and Prescriby is going to help reduce the number of patients who develop chronic opioid use disorder, and help those who end up with chronic opioid use get early intervention and support. Congratulations to both NL Health Services and Prescriby on this critical partnership.”
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About Prescriby
Prescriby’s mission is to provide safer treatment of prescription opioids and other addictive medications. Their solution is the missing link in patient care between the first prescription and addiction therapy. They believe taking a proactive approach to addictive medication management is essential to realizing better outcomes for patients and the healthcare system. Prescriby enables healthcare providers to get ahead of the opioid crisis, helps reduce the need for addiction treatments and saves costs for health systems.
About NL Health Services
Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services (NL Health Services) brings together five former separate health entities – Eastern Health, Central Health, Western Health, Labrador-Grenfell Health, and the Newfoundland and Labrador Centre for Health Information. The creation of a provincial health authority was announced following recommendations from Health Accord NL.
NL Health Services is responsible for delivering health and community services to more than 528,000 people living in Newfoundland and Labrador and employs over 22,000 people. NLHealthServices.ca.
About CAN Health
The CAN Health Network is a federally funded national organization working to introduce more Canadian innovation into Canada’s health system. The Network works with leading Canadian health care providers – referred to as Edges – to scale Canadian technology companies across Canada and beyond. By partnering Canadian companies directly with health care operators, CAN Health enables these companies and their solutions to be rapidly validated, procured and scaled across the Network.
Media Contacts
Mikaela Etchegary
NL Health Services
t: 709-777-1412
Kevin Oram
Prescriby
c: 709-691-1171
Natasha Zelinski
CAN Health Network
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