2016 WCRI Annual Issues & Research Conference

ANS recently attended the 2016 WCRI Annual Issues & Research Conference. The independent, not-for-profit institute studies and delivers objective information pertaining to public policy issues involving the workers’ comp system.

Conference Panel Highlights:

• Opioid Prescribing in Workers’ Comp
  • Overview:
    Opioids are a societal problem – not just a workers’ comp issue, and it will take a decade to dig ourselves out. Guidelines are necessary to combat the growing trend.
  • Positive Trends:
    Prescription frequency varies widely by state, leading to revised prescribing guidelines in medical/workers’ comp communities. Retail pharmacies are no longer simply filling, but verifying diagnosis/necessity. The DEA/FDA are also reclassifying some medications to reflect abuse potential, and activist groups supporting change are emerging.
  • Negative Trends:
    A major problem in the workers’ comp arena, the need for early intervention/monitoring is being overlooked by employers, and subsequently programs. Conflicting guidelines also cause confusion. Additionally, use of heroin, the cheaper alternative to prescription opioids, is on the rise.
  • Goals:
    Curtail chronic opioid use and ensure appropriate prescribing of opioids to injured workers and avoid unintended results by boosting awareness of the issue.
• Opioid Dispensing and Use
  • Overview:
    Yet-to-be published studies reveal the impact of pricing reforms for opioid dispensing physicians.
  • Physician Dispensing:
    Following reforms, prices decreased in most states, with fewer prescriptions dispensed. In IL and FL prices substantially increased – because physicians switched to formulations not covered in fee schedules. Price/amounts of pharmacy-dispensed products remained constant.
  • Variations in Use:
    Three-of-four injured workers nationwide receive opioids for pain. LA, NY, and PA dispense significantly higher amounts; NY and PA higher dosages. Patients who received opioids also received benzodiazepines in WI, MI, CT and MA. Per claim amounts decreased from 2012-2014, and frequency of drug testing increased significantly.

As an industry leader in large loss workers compensation claim management, ANS is setting the pace for drug utilization review with our proprietary Pharmacotherapy Review, helping fight the trend of the over-prescription of narcotics. Contact http://www.ans-solutions.com today.

This blog was originally posted at http://ans-solutions.com/2016-wcri-annual-issues-research-conference/

FDA Focuses on Opioid Policy

The FDA has recently acknowledged its own need to establish a “far-reaching action plan to reassess the agency’s approach to opioid medications” in order to reduce the trend, deemed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as “a serious public health issue.” Now the leading cause of accidental death in the U.S., more Americans currently die from drug overdoses annually than motor vehicle crashes, the majority of which can be linked back to opioid prescription medications such as oxycodone, hydrocodone, codeine, morphine, fentanyl, and others.

National Attention

In addition to spurring the FDA to action, Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell identified the boundlessness of the epidemic, citing the importance of both state and federal leaders coming together to form “a coordinated and comprehensive approach to address this crisis.” President Obama has also taken part in multiple efforts to curb the issue, including his 2010 National Drug Control Strategy to address opioid use disorders and overdose, as well as an October 2015 Memorandum to Federal Departments and Agencies calling for improved prescriber training and improved access to treatment for those addicted.

Recent Court Cases Press the Issue

The limelight on opioids has also triggered debate in the political arena, as well as even deeper scrutiny by the medical and workers’ comp communities, particularly following an array of eye-opening court cases in which doctors are being held liable for opioid prescribing practices. The most recent? February 2016’s Tseng Conviction, in which a California general practitioner was sentenced 30 years to life for the prescription of unnecessary painkillers which contributed to the fatal overdose of three patients.

The FDA Proposal to Combat the Epidemic

In response to the crisis, the FDA “has developed a comprehensive action plan to take concrete steps toward reducing the impact of opioid abuse on American families and communities.” Among the steps being taken…

• Advisory committees to review new drug applications, especially for opioids without abuse-deterrent properties.
• New warnings and safety labels to help doctors better understand risks and safe prescription practices.
• Upholding new requirements for drug companies to provide new data on the long-term impact of opioid drugs.
• Improved and updated CME training, including proven uses for opioids and safe prescribing practices, to decrease inappropriate prescriptions.
• Creating/expanding access to abuse-deterrent opioid formulations (ADF) to discourage abuse by spurring innovation, as well as generic formulations, of ADF products.
• A re-examination of the risk-benefit paradigm for opioids to include consideration of the widespread public health effects of drugs.

ANS Pharmacotherapy Review

Our approach to pharma review and intervention is the only face-to-face program of its kind offering evidence-based and actionable treatment recommendations that reduce pharma spend while offering improved quality of care for the injured worker with reduced risk of overdose and addiction. Contact http://www.ans-solutions.com to learn more about our comprehensive pharma review and intervention programs today.

This content was originally posted at http://ans-solutions.com/fda-focuses-on-opioid-policy/

SOURCES:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/how-bad-is-the-opioid-epidemic/

http://www.asam.org/docs/default-source/advocacy/opioid-addiction-disease-facts-figures.pdf

https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/10/21/fact-sheet-obama-administration-announces-public-and-private-sector

http://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2015/09/17/hhs-hosts-50-state-convening-focused-preventing-opioid-overdose-and-opioid-use-disorder.html#

http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/FactSheets/ucm484714.htm

http://nationalpainreport.com/commentary-the-debate-over-opioids-should-be-much-more-than-it-is-8829446.html

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine/2014/09/the-dangers-of-painkillers/index.htm