HCA Healthcare to host sixth annual “Crush the Crisis” national prescription drug take back day

We are proud to announce our sixth annual “Crush the Crisis” national prescription drug take back day on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. This year, 133 HCA Healthcare facilities across the country will partner with local law enforcement to help communities safely and anonymously dispose of unused or expired medications.

Held each year, in alignment with the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, HCA Healthcare holds “Crush the Crisis” events to raise awareness about the dangers of prescription drug misuse and the importance of proper disposal of unused or expired medications. Last year, more than 120 HCA Healthcare facilities from all 15 U.S. divisions helped to collect 13,136 pounds, equivalent to approximately 9 million doses, of unused and expired prescription medications. Since launching “Crush the Crisis” as an enterprise initiative in 2019, HCA Healthcare has helped collect more than 67,500 pounds of medication. 

To further help combat the nation’s opioid crisis, HCA Healthcare has worked with the National Academy of Medicine’s (NAM) Action Collaborative on Countering the U.S. Opioid Epidemic. 

HCA Healthcare uses data from approximately 43 million annual patient encounters to help continuously improve care. The organization uses the science of “big data” to help reduce prescription drug misuse and transform pain management, with initiatives in surgical, emergency and other care settings, including:

• Enhanced Surgical Recovery (ESR): a multi-modal approach to pain management using pre, intra and post-operative interventions to optimize outcomes. HCA Healthcare’s ESR programs have demonstrated significant improvements in surgical recovery and patient satisfaction, including decreases in opioid usage.

• Electronic Prescribing of Controlled Substances (EPCS): aims to stem increasing rates of opioid-related addiction, misuse diversion and death by making it more difficult for medication-seekers to doctor-shop and alter prescriptions. Physicians have access to aggregated electronic health records, providing data to help them prescribe opioids judiciously.