According to data from the Danbury, Connecticut–based IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science, opioid prescriptions in general declined by 10.2% in 2017. Prescriptions for the highest doses fell by 16.1% in 2017 as well, and dropped more than 33% since January 2016. The report also found that prescription opioid volume has decreased every year over the past five years in all 50 states.

Last October, the hospital was placed under immediate jeopardy following the death of a patient with dementia. DeKalb Medical officers self-reported the incident to CMS and released a statement saying they “want to make sure it never happens again.” The case has spurred a series of patient safety reforms, many of which seek to reduce overreliance on technology.

Hospitals can make their own policies, too. Institute a policy on opioid prescribing to relieve your providers of some decision-making pressure in an age of addiction awareness—and, if you do it right, your providers should still be able to give patients the pain relief they need.

Pumps undergo extensive pre-market testing, and vendor manuals provide detailed documentation of the results. However, pump performance in the real world often differs significantly from lab results, with a potentially significant impact on patient safety.

Pharmacists may mistakenly override a medication safety alert because they are inundated with false alarms, DeKalb’s pharmacy director told inspectors after the fatal incident, according to an inspection report CMS released to HealthLeaders Media in response to a public records request.