Integration of Pharmacy Student Interns into a Naloxone Telephone Outreach Service

Opioid overdose remains a significant public health issue in the United States and is the leading cause of accidental death. Naloxone has become increasingly accessible, with greater emphasis placed by health systems and pharmacies on distribution of the safety tool. While the utility of pharmacists in advancing this work is clear, there is limited research on the success of integrating pharmacy students into a naloxone outreach program. The purpose of this project was to implement and evaluate the success of integrating pharmacy student interns into a naloxone telephone outreach service for Veteran patients at risk for opioid overdose. A telephone outreach protocol was developed and reviewed by Clinical Pharmacist Practitioners (CPPs) at the site. Pharmacy student interns were trained to complete naloxone outreach calls, which were supervised by a CPP. In the first three months, 160 patients were identified for outreach based on prescription opioid risk factors. Of the 118 reached by telephone, 92 (78.0%) accepted naloxone and 26 (22.0%) declined. In total, 150 (93.8%) patients received naloxone education via either telephone discussion or letter. Integrating supervised pharmacy student interns into a naloxone telephone outreach service was feasible for interns and CPPs and resulted in a high naloxone acceptance rate.