New Opioids Reduce Pain – and Addiction Risk

A new generation of opioid drugs are on the horizon, possibly offering the much maligned class of drugs a second chance to make a good impression. After years of opioids like oxycodone and fentanyl driving up drug addiction rates nationwide, a second subset of once odious opioids is being introduced, touting all the painkilling power of its conventional counterpart – less the dangerous and deadly side effects.

A Different Approach

While pharmaceutical companies continue to crank out new prescription formulations geared toward treating the side effects of opioid drug use and addiction rather than eliminating the painkillers, researchers are seeking a new path to both help patients – and repair the reputation of opioids. To combat ever-rising opioid addiction rates and overdose deaths, researchers are working with three (new) compounds:

• Oliceridine 
  Created by Trevena, this drug has been given preferential regulatory treatment by the FDA.
• Mitragynine Pseudoindoxyl
  Derived from leaves of the Southeast Asian kratom plant, this compound has demonstrated a decreased addiction risk in mice.
• Compound PZM21
  Early testing has produced results that, according to researchers, are unlike those seen from other potential painkiller compounds.

Mitigating Risks

Working like morphine to bind to proteins in the brain, spinal cord, and other organs, this new family of opioid drugs activates a different signaling pathway than their predecessors, using a route through which information flows from one molecule to another. These essential differences are hoped to decrease the risk of addiction, as well as the leading cause of overdose death – respiratory depression – the elimination of which has been deemed an essential goal.

Ensuring Optimal Outcomes

To combat the high economic and human/personal costs of opioid abuse, dependence, and overdose, as well as to ensure a post-injury recovery process that yields maximum results and quality of life, ANS Solutions has developed Pharmacotherapy Review. This unique and industry-leading approach far surpasses run-of-the-mill drug utilization programs, providing comprehensive care and an attention to detail that protects injured workers and workers’ compensation payers alike against the concurrent risks and costs of unnecessary treatment regimens, including the over-prescription of opioids, through…

• Exceptionally credentialed Legal Nurse experts, Doctors of Pharmacy, and staff.
• Face-to-face collaboration.
• Consolidation/coordination of drug therapies between all prescribers.
• Identification of excessive dosages.
• Weaning programs for over-prescribed narcotics.
• Consideration of evidence-backed treatment alternatives.

Set off on a new path to injury and disability treatment. Uncover the benefits of Pharmacotherapy Review from http://www.ans-solutions.com today.

Original content posted on http://ans-solutions.com/new-opioids-reduce-pain-and-addiction-risk/

Alabama Doctor Arrested In Connection with Matt Roberts of 3 Doors Down Overdose Death

In mid-August of this year, fans were stunned by the death of 38-year-old Matt Roberts, former guitarist of 3 Doors Down. Alabama physician Dr. Richard Snellgrove was arrested November 16th for allegedly providing the rocker with drugs outside the course of his professional practice. Snellgrove prescribed some five different medications, including methadone, hydrocodone, lorazepam and fentanyl — all prescribed in the names of different individuals, but intended for Roberts.

Slated to perform at a charity event for veterans, the rocker’s father, Darrell Roberts, who often traveled alongside the star, learned of his son’s death the morning following rehearsals. The elder Roberts was informed his son was “either asleep or passed out in the hallway of his hotel” by authorities. Roberts’ father indicated that his son had been fighting a prescription medication addiction to combat his anxiety since joining the band.

A Serious Issue Beyond Over-Prescription
While Roberts’ father noted that he didn’t have any bitterness or anger toward the doctor, he drew attention to the seriousness of the issue in the medical community across the U.S. Prescription drug abuse causes the largest percentage of deaths from drug overdosing, with opioid painkillers the most common culprit. Roberts is among a string of stars over the past decade, including Prince, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Brittany Murphy, Heath Ledger, and Anna Nicole Smith – alongside thousands of other unnamed “average” Americans – sons, fathers, mothers, daughters, brothers, sisters, and friends – all lost to the prescription drug abuse epidemic sweeping the nation, unheeded by age, race, gender, or income level.

Re-Thinking “the Norm”
In chronic pain treatment, particularly where opioids are concerned, there seems to be a disconnect between a drug’s approval for use and its potential for harm, leading to over-prescription and deadly drug interactions. This is why ANS developed its unique pharmacotherapy review program, the only drug utilization review system in the industry with a hands-on, state by state jurisdictional approach. Sometimes to help an injured worker, “it takes a village”, and the ANS face-to-face collaborative process uses locally based legal nurse experts to bring doctors, patients, insurers, and legal representatives all onto the same page. Other drug utilization processes act superficially and fail to follow up, but the ANS process consistently achieves the most impactful patient outcomes while producing the lowest MSA’s and most improved loss ratio’s in the industry. All this while offering a risk free “No Fee Assurance” guarantee for WC payers who wish to try the program.

To truly improve patient treatment outcomes and stop the opioid epidemic try http://ans-solutions.com/ scientifically-based, cost-effective pharmacotherapy review programs. Contact us today.

Original content posted on http://ans-solutions.com/alabama-doctor-arrested-in-connection-with-matt-roberts-of-3-doors-down-overdose-death/

How Common is Illegal Drug Use Among Pain Patients?

At the American Pain Society’s 35th Annual Scientific Meeting in Austin, findings were released on the use of illicit substances among chronic pain patients. Of 450,081 patients included in a study by Baltimore-based pain medication monitoring firm Ameritox, 10.4% of urine samples tested positive for the use of at least one illicit substance.

How Many of Those Identified Were Workers Comp Patients?
Workers compensation was the primary payer for 22,525 of the 450,081 patients in the study, conducted between January 2013 and July 2015, which showed the use of illicit substances 8.4% of the time in workers comp patients. The group with the highest level of detection, at 16.4%, was Medicaid patients. The lowest: Medicare at 8.1%. Commercially insured individuals were detected at 8.4%, and patient paid tests at 12.5%, respectively. Of those receiving opioid pain treatment drugs, the use of illicit substances was detected at the following rate:

• For patients prescribed Hydrocodone – 10.9%
• For patients prescribed Codeine – 10.7%
• For patients prescribed Oxymorphone – 8.2%

Risk Mitigation and Pharmacotherapy Review
With the use of highly addictive opioids in the treatment of pain, a lack of utilization and/or awareness of risk mitigation strategies is a common driver for poor outcomes. Often times the potential for addiction or the existence of past drug abuse and even behavior consistent with drug abuse are over looked. When this happens the quality of treatment and life in large loss workers compensations claims are severely compromised while associated treatment costs continue to rise.

At ANS, our highly credentialed Legal nurse consultants develop actionable treatment recommendations to enhance the quality of life of injured workers while also ensuring optimal financial outcomes through:

• Comprehensive, holistic medical records reviews and treatment assessments.
• The identification of at-risk individuals and dangerous or deadly drug interactions.
• Uncovering of unnecessary opioid treatment regimens and baseless dosage increases.
• The recommended use of equally effective, less risky, alternative treatment methods where applicable.
• Compliance protocols for monitoring the usage of habit-forming medications, such as opioids.
• Opioid tapering/weaning programs to curb the risk of opioid addiction.

Improve outcomes and reduce costs with the most effective pharma cost containment strategies in the industry. Contact http://www.ans-solutions.com today.

Content was originally published at  http://ans-solutions.com/how-common-is-illegal-drug-use-among-pain-patients/.

Potential Workers Compensation Cost Drivers- Private Label Topicals

We are seeing a trend in which doctors are increasingly prescribing private label topical drugs for the treatment of chronic pain. Awareness of these expensive and clinically unproven products is becoming increasingly important due to their potential safety and cost implications.

What are they?

Differing from custom compounds, private label topicals are similar to over-the-counter (OTC) topical products, with varying formulations that are not clinically tested for either safety or efficacy. Private-label topical analgesics are not recommended according to evidence-based guidelines and they are not approved by the FDA.

From a clinical perspective, private-label topicals offer no greater benefit to the patient than over-the-counter (OTC) alternatives found in national retail chains and in most cases they are significantly more expensive. The potential cost per prescription is disproportionately high with prices points upwards of several hundred dollars yet these drugs being dispensed by physicians and small, independent pharmacies for the treatment of pain when comparable OTC alternatives such as IcyHot® or BenGay typically retail for less than $10.

Curbing the Issue

When recommending any topical product, whether prescription or OTC, physicians must consider patient safety and evidence-based guidelines. More appropriate, less costly alternative treatment strategies may be available for the effective treatment of pain.  ANS Pharmacotherapy Review can help uncover and address private label drug prescription practices. For more information contact us today or visit www.ans-solutions.com.

This content was originally posted at http://ans-solutions.com/potential-workers-compensation-cost-drivers-private-label-topicals/

Advanced Strategies for Pharmaceutical Cost Management

With large loss claims, the road to managing the hefty costs associated with pharmaceutical therapies can be long and winding. As more drugs become available within drug classes, there is often a large cost disparity among medications. Further, patient access to more affordable and equally (if not more) effective medications is limited. Fortunately, there are advanced pharmaceutical cost management solutions available. One such solution, Pharmacotherapy Review, is ANS’s highly evolved approach to drug utilization review. The Pharmacotherapy Review Program utilizes a three-stage approach to provide economically balanced and appropriate treatment options for injured workers.

PharmReview – Stage 1

At ANS we are not just concerned with cost-effective treatment regimes. Overall our strategies strive to improve the quality of life for the injured worker. The PharmReview program applies evidence-based medical guidelines when strategically assessing each case to identify the best possible clinical and pharmaceutical treatment plan based on the injured worker’s medical condition. The final product is an expert recommendation on a course of action to improve the living conditions of the injured worker while reducing unnecessary costs for the carrier.

PharmIntervention – Stage 2

PharmIntervention involves applying expert clinical knowledge and experience in catastrophic injures to recommend, where appropriate, alternative treatments and therapies. The goal of this strategy is to improve quality of care and overall outcomes. Achieving this goal requires a thoughtful and collaborative partnership between treating physicians to employ a modified treatment plan based on the recommendations of highly credentialed and experienced nurse experts. When done correctly it will ensure that patients receive the highest quality of care balanced with the necessary cost controls.

PharmCompliance – Stage 3

Physician and patient compliance with the new prescription plan established during the PharmIntervention stage is crucial to a successful pharmaceutical cost management strategy. First, it will help determine whether the modified treatment plan is achieving the desired result. Second, it will ensure both the physician(s) and injured worker are actively engaged in the new treatment regime. Compliance by both parties will generate hard dollar cost-savings and positive therapeutic outcomes. In this stage, ANS Clinical Liaison officers will pro-actively manage a case to ensure compliance and maximize outcomes.

ANS Solutions

Effective use of advanced pharmaceutical cost management tools such as ANS PharmReview Program can minimize overall costs, improve patient access to more affordable medications and provide an improved quality of life. Our pharmaceutical cost containment strategies have achieved proven results time and time again. To find out more about our medical cost management services visit us at www.ans-solutions.com.

Content originally posted at www.ans-solutions.com.

The Financial Repercussions of MSAs on Large Loss Claims

Medicare recommends an allocation of funds in a Workers’ Compensation settlement that is set aside to ensure that the injured party’s qualified medical expenses are funded, also known as Medicare Set Aside. These funds must be used to pay for treatment related to the Workers’ Compensation injury, that would otherwise be paid for by Medicare. The financial repercussions of MSAs on settlements can be significant.

Part D Exposure

As part of the Medicare Modernization act of 2003, Medicare indoctrinated what is known as Part D prescription drug coverage beginning in 2006. In other words, an allocation must be made for future prescription drug treatment in a Medicare Set-Aside. Rising pharmacy costs, including medications an injured worker may have been prescribed once in the previous 2 years, along with treatment, has created an environment in which Payers are subject to unreasonably high claim settlements.  The “Prescription Affliction” suffered by Payers is lovingly referred to as Part D exposure and it leads to claims staying open longer or not settling at all. As a result, these claims rack up millions of dollars in cost for Workers’ Compensation Payers.

Reducing Medicare Set Aside and Part D Exposure

A proactive approach is necessary before settlement and preferably early in the process for optimal results. At ANS, we mitigate Medicare Part D exposure with a three pronged approach:

• PharmReview – during this stage, the injured worker’s existing pharmaceutical regimen is assessed and modification recommendations are determined.
• PharmIntervention – a face-to-face discussion with the treating physician to achieve consensus on a modified medication regimen and commitment on a future course of treatment.
• PharmCompliance- an ANS Clinical Liaison Officer ensures compliance with the new prescription treatment plan. This provides a proactive management of the case to optimize hard cost savings.

Only highly credentialed legal nurse experts who are experienced in the treatment of catastrophic injuries, such as those employed by ANS, can provide actionable recommendations based on the individual patient and engage effectively with treating physicians. This technique yields a clear medical action plan that drives down costs while simultaneously improving the quality of care for the injured worker, allowing for reasonable settlement of the claim.

ANS’s pharmaceutical cost containment technique has reduced pharma costs by up to 25%. To find out more about reducing MSA and Part D exposure, contact us today.

This post was originally published at http://ans-solutions.com/.