MGH to Screen All Patients for Substance Abuse

MGH will question all patients admitted to the hospital about substance abuse (see: MGH to screen all patients for substance abuse). There are at least two reasons for screening all hospital inpatients for substance abuse. The first is that such information is important when working-up a patient. Of course, problems related to alcohol abuse such as cirrhosis will become apparent as soon as the lab values come back. The second reason, as noted below, is that substance abuse patients often have various chronic illnesses and higher readmission rates: Patients at Massachusetts General Hospital will soon be asked questions about their alcohol and illegal drug use, no matter why they’re at the hospital. The program scheduled to start this fall is part of a broader plan to improve addiction treatment at the Boston hospital and its community health centers. Caregivers will ask patients how often they have had six or more drinks on one occasion, and whether they have used an illegal drug in the past year, according to a report in The Boston Globe. If the questioning reveals a possible addiction, doctors can summon a team to conduct a ‘‘bedside intervention’’ and, if needed, arrange treatment. Some hospitals already ask emergency room patients about alcohol and drug use, and the American College of Surgeons has required hospitals to ask all trauma patients about their alcohol use since 2006. But standardized hospital-wide substance-abuse screening of a...
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