Wednesday, April 11, 2012

From the National Rx Abuse Summit

Thanks to those of you who attended the session yesterday here in Orlando. And a special thanks to those of you who noted that you read Evidence Based.

The discussion in yesterday's session (Financial Impact to Employers) had a few highlights I wanted to share.

First, I had planned to show a short video clip from Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing. While the audio worked well, the video didn't. Serendipitously, though, one of the doctors featured in the video was in the room and shared his thoughts on the topic live and in-person. Many thanks to Dr. Andrew Kolodny for being willing to fill in where the A/V system fell short. Dr. Kolodny's presence was also confirmation for many of us that this conference is the right place to be for those of us dedicated to eliminating inappropriate use of prescription narcotics in work comp.

Speaking of work comp, I began my presentation yesterday by noting that PRIUM is focused in the work comp space, but that I planned to broaden the discussion to other payers and stakeholders. But as I scanned the room, I saw lots of familiar faces... and as we moved to Q&A, it was confirmed for me that the room was filled with predominantly work comp folks.

Do we in work comp "get it"? Is the problem of prescription drug abuse more prevalent in comp than in the group or government payer sectors? Or did the work comp sector just do a better job of networking and creating awareness for the event?

Genuinely interested in your thoughts...

Michael
On Twitter @PRIUM1

4 comments:

  1. Michael, I caught the lecture with yourself and Dennis Jay yesterday. I work for one of the PBMs you called out yesterday (I think one of the "good ones", as you say), and I don't think it's that work comp players "get it" better, it's just that we hear about prescription drug abuse louder and more frequently than others because of the ease of obtaining medications in comp today. If we "got it" better, I'd hope we'd be closer to a smarter solution to the problems of overprescribing, diversion and addiction.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Michael. Thoroughly enjoyed the session. Can you remind me where I can access the video?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks! Here's the link to the video:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhUqHQdcY_U

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank you Michael for calling attention to Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing and for your interest in showing one of our videos at the Summit meeting. All four of our videos can be accessed on the home page of our website @ www.supportPROP.org

    Regards

    Andrew Kolodny

    ReplyDelete