The opioid epidemic was fueled by overprescribing of opioids – especially for conditions like low back pain where treatment with opioids is not best practice. Our Opioid Prescribing workgroup is focused on supporting people who have been prescribed chronic opioids – meaning prescriptions for more than 60 days. Our approach will be patient-centered and based…

Every year we select new topic areas. This is a chance to look back at our previous work and to think about how we can continue improve health care quality, outcomes, and affordability in our community. Do you have suggestions of new topic areas for us? We want to hear from you! Email me at…

The first week of April marks public health week. This year’s theme is For science. For action. For health. Most of us who work in the health care field deal with clinical care – those important interactions that help each of us remain healthy and deal with problems when they come up. Public health focuses…

When I talk with my doctors about my health and especially about my daughter’s health, I want and expect them to be respectful, base what they say in available evidence, and to help me understand the pros and cons of any decisions. Lucky for us we live in Washington State where our Health Care Authority…

Read our Recommendation Summary People who have chronic pain often experience frustrating, disjointed care. This can be hard for clinicians too because of barriers in referring to other types of providers and lack of support within an organization. For the past year, our workgroup has looked at the different ways that chronic pain is treated…

For the past year, our Accountable Payment Models workgroup has been reviewing evidence, hearing from community members, and revising our Lumbar Fusion Bundled Payment Model and Warranty. At our recent Bree Collaborative January meeting, members voted to adopt the bundle and warranty. Our goal in this revision was to respond to changes in the evidence…

The final comic strip of Calvin and Hobbes speaks to the understated genius of author Bill Watterson. Calvin and the tiger Hobbes are walking in a waist-deep field of snow discussing how “the world looks brand new…like having a big sheet of white paper to draw on.” Calvin turns to Hobbes and says “It’s a…

Our average life expectancy in America has declined again, as it has done for the past few years. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently released data showing that this trend is largely driven by increases in deaths by suicide and drug overdose. These two areas have been key parts of our work over…