New app will help Indiana doctors fight opioid abuse

The newest weapon in the fight against opioid abuse is education that fits into a physician's palm.

Thanks to $230,000 from the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation, the Indiana State Medical Association is developing an app that will help doctors stay on top of the latest information geared toward stemming the addiction crisis.

"Historically physicians have been part of the problem," Indiana State Medical Association President Dr. John P. McGoff said. "We're trying to be part of the solution by making sure that physicians appropriately prescribe opiates."

The grant, awarded Tuesday, is paying to develop the app and a companion podcast that will help doctors keep up with training requirements and help reduce the reliance on addictive pain pills.

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Since 1999 Indiana has seen deaths by drug overdose increase 500 percent, according to the governor's office.

Many experts believe that doctors stoked the opioid epidemic by overprescribing pain pills. When the pills became more difficult to get, addicts turned to heroin, fentanyl and other illegal drugs.

The app and an accompanying podcast will offer information about treatment alternatives such as ice, acupuncture and massage as well as pain reliever medication that is not an opiate, such as aspirin and ibuprofen.

"The opioid epidemic isn't over yet," said Claire Fiddian-Green, president and CEO of the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation, an Indianapolis nonprofit. "We really need to focus on prevention. We believe this program is a step in the right direction."

The mobile app, focusing solely on opiate training, will be the first of its kind in Indiana. It will be free to health care providers and is expected to be released later this year.

Through the app, health professionals such as doctors and dentists who write prescriptions can learn about opioids and the alternatives while at the gym, on an airplane or in-between patients.

"Prescribers can access that information on demand, in real time, wherever they are," Fiddian-Green said.

Lawmakers and sate officials in recent months have been taking several steps to curb opioid abuse. 

• The Indiana Hospital Association, Indiana State Medical Association and the Indiana State Department of Health issued new guidelines in January aimed at discouraging the overuse of prescription pain pills. 

• A new state law took effect in July prohibiting Indiana doctors from prescribing more than a seven-day supply of pain killers to patients under 18 or to adults for whom that is their first prescription from that provider. 

• The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration in March announced a new partnership with software provider Open Beds to help social workers link people with substance abuse problems to openings at treatment facilities. 

• Indiana lawmakers this year approved a bill mandating that all doctors receive at least two hours of opioid-prescription training every two years.

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The app announced Tuesday will help the doctors meet the new education requirements, McGoff said.

"Physicians want to get their information in snippets," McGoff said. "This new app and podcast will allow them to obtain this education when it's most convenient."

Call IndyStar reporter Vic Ryckaert at (317) 444-2701. Follow him on Twitter: @VicRyc.