A new report highlights moves Indiana has made to address the opioid epidemic. A reduction of opioid prescriptions tops the list.

Indiana providers decreased prescriptions by 35 percent over the past five years according to the American Medical Association Opioid Task Force 2019 Progress Report.

Indiana Hospital Association President Brian Tabor says improved access to the state’s prescription drug monitoring program, INSPECT, has helped providers.

“That has really made it much easier for prescribers to look at that information along with the entire medical record of the patient,” says Tabor.

Tabor credits the collaboration between lawmakers and healthcare professionals to create policy changes to address the opioid epidemic.

“It’s really done a lot to just decrease the stigma associated with the topic, so it’s something that Hoosiers just talk about more openly,” says Tabor.

The report also recommends improved access to medication-assisted treatment and the overdose-reversal drug naloxone.  Indiana has made progress in both areas but could still improve.

Tabor says the state could also do more to increase the number of behavioral health professionals.