Please go to Central Maine Online to read the full article.  Poor broadband and out-of-step Medicare policies relegate Maine's use of telehealth to small niches when it should be in the mainstream. By: J. Craig Anderson, Portland Press Herald ~~Excerpt Information technology should be revolutionizing the way patients in Maine interact with their health care providers, but poor broadband infrastructure and outdated federal policies are slowing progress to a crawl. Many people believe ... Read More ›

Please go to the Bangor Daily News to read the full article.  By Callie Ferguson, BDN Staff ~~Excerpt The state is working with the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office to develop a blueprint for establishing medication-assisted opioid treatment programs inside Maine county jails. Officials said they are collaborating on a set of guidelines that they plan to share in the fall with sheriffs, who independently oversee the state’s local lockups. The move signals the first unified ... Read More ›

Please go to Maine Public to read the full article.  By: Irwin Gratz ~~Excerpt The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration recently released data tracking opioid pill distribution from 2006 to 2012. It shows more opioid pills were handed out in Penobscot County than in any other county in New England. But by 2016, Maine had already moved to address issues of overprescribing. The state passed a law that set education and training standards for opioid prescribers. Gordon Smith helped ... Read More ›

Please go to PBS Newshour to read the full article.  By: Jenae Addison ~~Excerpt The opioid epidemic in the United States has largely centered on white Americans, who account for roughly 80 percent of opioid overdose victims. But the national attention on white victims has pushed minorities to the sidelines, even as the number of opioid-related deaths among non-whites is on the rise. Non-whites make up 20 percent of deaths involving prescription and non-prescription opioids in the ... Read More ›

Please go to the Portland Press Herald to read the full article.  The summit convened by Gov. Janet Mills attracts about 1,000 people and highlights ideas for addressing the epidemic of opioid use disorder. By: Joe Lawlor, Staff Writer Sam Quinones, author of the book "Dreamland," speaks Monday at the governor's opioid conference in Augusta. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal ~~Excerpt AUGUSTA — While federal and New England state officials discussed strategies for ... Read More ›

Please go to Maine Public to read the full article.  By: Ed Morin ~~Excerpt More than 1,000 people working to address the opioid crisis in Maine met for a daylong summit in Augusta on Monday. Gov. Janet Mills says the goal is to foster collaboration between health providers, law enforcement and the recovery community to better respond to a public health issue that kills nearly one Mainer a day. Addressing the magnitude of the opioid epidemic can seem daunting, but the focus of ... Read More ›

Please go to Central Maine Online to read the full editorial.  Overdose deaths and opioid prescriptions are down, but there are new challenges ahead. By: The Editorial Board ~~Excerpt Prescriptions for the powerful pain medications that helped hook so many people on opioids are down in Maine, as are the number of fatal drug overdoses. That’s good news. But there remains plenty of evidence that the drug crisis is changing, bringing new challenges to policy makers, health care ... Read More ›

Please go to the Bangor Daily News to read the full article.  By Callie Ferguson, BDN Staff ~~Excerpt All Jeannie Chapman remembers from her overdose was drawing the heroin into the needle, sticking it in her arm and then waking up in an ambulance. Though she had come close to dying, she pleaded, unsuccessfully, with the paramedics not to take her to the hospital because using drugs violated her court-ordered probation. Her probation was the result of the darkest point in a ... Read More ›

Please go to the Portland Press Herald to read the full article.  A provision in federal law designed to control costs – called the upper payment limit – is creating an obstacle. By: Joe Lawlor, Staff Writer ~~Excerpt A federal requirement in the Medicaid program is threatening to hamper the Mills administration’s effort to increase access to opioid treatment programs in Maine. The Legislature shelved a bill this session that would have increased reimbursement rates, starting in July, ... Read More ›

Learn how to better respect and respond to your client's unique needs in this online training of Cultural Competency for Behavioral Health Professionals, being offered at no cost by the Office of Minority Health, US Department of Health and Human Services. Cultural and linguistic competency is recognized as an important strategy for improving the quality of care provided to clients from diverse backgrounds. The goal of this e-learning program is to help behavioral health professionals ... Read More ›