Nearly 88 infants are diagnosed with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) daily in the U.S.

Despite being widely recognized as the most tragic victims of the opioid crisis — as it is the maternal use of opioids that causes the newborn’s opioid dependency — the specialized care necessary to manage withdrawal in a newborn often ends when that baby leaves the hospital. Post-discharge, parents take their babies back to rural communities where the hospital staff may be unaware of the newborn’s underlying illness and the risks associated with it.

Earlier this year, Highlands Regional Medical Center, in Prestonsburg, helped pioneer new functionality...

The Kentucky Hospital Association and Collective Medical Technologies are committed to supporting patients with substance use disorder (SUD) and the providers who care for them. Medication-assisted therapy and coordinating care is proven to improve outcomes. As a part of this commitment, Collective Medical is adding Kentucky SUD clinics, behavioral health practices and related treatment facilities to this growing Kentucky network.

In Elizabethtown, Stepworks Recovery Centers is now connected to Hardin Memorial Health. Through the Collective Platform, care managers from Stepworks can now collaborate with Hardin Memorial emergency department (ED) staff when a Stepworks client presents in the ED to ensure that they aren't prescribed medications that could result in a relapse.

Deron Bibb, a board of directors member at Stepworks, explains, “It can be frustrating for centers like ours when patients leave our doors, relapse and return to the hospital — and we have no way of knowing because...