• Mayo Clinic Radio: Opioid epidemic / Plummer Project / Transform conference

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the number of people receiving an opioid prescription and the number of deaths from overdose has nearly quadrupled over the past 15 years. Opioids, including prescription drugs and heroin, killed more than 33,000 people in 2015 — the latest year of data from the CDC.

On the next Mayo Clinic Radio program, Dr. Michael Hooten, an anesthesiologist and pain medicine specialist at Mayo Clinic, will discuss the opioid epidemic in America. Also on the program, Dr. Steve Peters, chief medical information officer, Mayo Clinic, will explain the Plummer Project — Mayo Clinic's institutional move to a single, integrated electronic health record and billing system. And Dr. Douglas Wood, medical director, Mayo Clinic Center for Innovation, will preview the upcoming Transform 2017 conference.

To hear the program, find an affiliate in your area.

Here is this week's Mayo Clinic Radio podcast.

Follow #MayoClinicRadio, and tweet your questions.

Mayo Clinic Radio is on iHeartRadio.

Mayo Clinic Radio produces a weekly one-hour radio program highlighting health and medical information from Mayo Clinic.

Access archived shows.