Sponsorship of “Healthcare of Tomorrow” Leadership Forum Helps Drive Conversation Around Solutions 

HUMMELSTOWN, PA/November 1, 2017 – Prescient Medicine, a Pennsylvania-based predictive health intelligence company, will sponsor the 5th Annual U.S. News & World Report Healthcare of Tomorrow leadership forum, taking place in Washington, DC on November 1-3, 2017. Founder and CEO, Keri Donaldson, MD, will participate as part of the "Taking Action to Address the Opioid Crisis” panel discussion on Friday, November 3rd at 8:45 a.m. E.T. 

“With the opioid crisis now declared a public health emergency by the U.S. government, it’s critical that we work together to help find effective solutions in the form of preventive strategies and predictive insights,” said Dr. Donaldson. “We look forward to engaging other leaders to help define and accelerate more immediate and lasting approaches to our nation’s most pressing healthcare challenge –the opioid epidemic.” 

With more than 59,000 opioid-related drug overdoses in 2016 alone, the U.S. opioid crisis highlights an urgent need to improve prescribing guidelines, reduce opioid exposure among at-risk populations, and ensure safe and effective treatments for those who need them. Dr. Donaldson and panelists will examine how providers and policymaker.

About the Opioid Epidemic 

Opioid abuse is a serious public health issue and drug overdose deaths are the leading cause of injury death in the United States. Accordingly, the economic and societal costs of opioid abuse are impacting millions of American lives every day. 

Nationwide, opioid-related hospitalizations cost about $20 billion annually. Societal costs for opioids – including social services, public safety, and criminal justice – will be about $83 billion in 2017. Nearly one-quarter of that economic burden is paid by public, tax-funded sources.

And it’s only getting worse. The U.S. is the world leader in opioid prescriptions and it’s estimated that as many as 650,000 people will die over the next 10 years from opioid overdoses – more than the entire city of Baltimore. That means that the U.S. risks losing the equivalent of a whole American city in just one decade.