Risk Insider: Chris Mandel

Opioids an Obstacle to Better Claim Outcomes

By: | September 14, 2016

Chris Mandel is SVP, strategic solutions for Sedgwick and Director of the Sedgwick Institute. He is a long-term risk management leader and a former president of RIMS. He can be reached at [email protected].

On a weekly if not daily basis, there are media reports about the growing impacts of addiction to opioids. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that 78 people a day are dying from the effects of opioid overdose. Families are being systematically destroyed by the multiplicity of effects of this increasingly pervasive problem.

In 2014, there were more than 47,000 drug overdose deaths in the United States and more than 28,000 of those deaths were caused by opioids. The American population makes up only 5 percent of the global population, and yet it consumes 80 percent of all opioids produced in the world.

This strongly implies there is a societal, cultural profile in America that is unlike anywhere in the world, driving such demand and overuse.

As the national “epidemic” of opioid abuse continues to get increasing attention, it’s important to realize the effect it has on employers. Prescription opioid abuse alone cost employers more than $25 billion in 2007.

The American population makes up only 5 percent of the global population, and yet it consumes 80 percent of all opioids produced in the world.

In addition, when injured workers are prescribed opioids long term, the length of the claim increases dramatically — even more so when other addictive medications like benzodiazepines (alprazolam, lorazepam) are prescribed.

Perhaps the most troubling statistic of all, 60 percent of injured workers on opioids 90 days post-injury will still be on opioids at 5 years.

Strategies for the Claims Team

While there is certainly responsibility and accountability on behalf of the patient and his/her doctor to mitigate this risk, here are a few final things workers’ comp claim professionals should consider in the overall strategy of managing claims involving opioid prescriptions and which, if not managed closely, may lead to abuse and addiction.

Develop and define a strategy for identifying and then monitoring physician prescribing patterns and the specific use patterns in each affected case. Some of the tactics that should be considered include:

  • Leveraging pharmacy utilization review services
  • Directing patients to doctors who won’t overprescribe opioids, and those who use prescription drug monitoring programs and tools, which are available in most states
  • Engaging nurse case managers early and regularly; their involvement and intervention can help deter addiction. Nurses can advocate for other more clinically appropriate options, and advocate for best practices including risk assessments, opioid contracts, pill counts and random drug screens
  • Ensuring that injured workers are getting prescriptions through pharmacy benefit management networks
  • Leveraging fraud and investigative resources that are often useful in uncovering underlying, unrelated patterns of behavior that would indicate a propensity for opioid abuse
  • Considering the cost of opioids versus alternatives; while many alternate treatment modalities are on the front-end more expensive, certain drugs may be much more expensive in the long term, especially if they lead to addiction
  • Addressing the opioid issue well before case settlement; as with most longer term open claims scenarios, those with opioid use will only produce worse outcomes and get more expensive over time without appropriate early interventions

Continued vigilance by claims professionals can enable and facilitate a better result at closure and avoid a lot of potential pain for the injured worker along the recovery path.

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