Tag: opioid use

Pre-MSA Triage Works!

November 17, 2015

medicare set asideInappropriate and/or unnecessary prescription drugs, along with recommended medical procedures that are recommended, but never performed, are all too common in workers’ compensation claims. Yet they are often overlooked when moving a claim to settlement. But a new tool is helping payers identify and address obstacles, saving millions of dollars in MSA and settlement costs. Several recent cases bear out the program’s success.

Tower MSA Partners developed this unique service to ensure MSAs include only accurate and appropriate medical and pharmaceutical treatment. The Pre-MSA Triage allows payers to stage claims for optimal outcomes by providing a snapshot of MSA exposure before the MSA. By following our recommended interventions, clients are achieving CMS approval of reduced MSAs, with reductions of more than 50% in many cases.

How it works

Tower analyzes 6 months of medical records to identify care and cost issues, including the projected MSA cost of a claim based on the current medical and pharmacy treatment regimen. The review also provides a snapshot view of the MSA exposure in a non-discoverable (not an MSA) format, and offers an overview of inappropriate, unnecessary treatment and cost drivers that may impact MSA and settlement. For example, the review may uncover denied injuries and/or body parts, recommended surgical procedures that were never pursued, spinal cord stimulators that were recommended but never evaluated, gaps in treatment dates, unrelated medications, and off-label drug usage.

We then recommend various interventions, such as physician peer review, clinical oversight and conditional payment searches/negotiations to effect improved outcomes and savings in the overall claim costs, frequently as much as 50 percent!

Example Case Study

Tower’s Pre-MSA Triage projected the MSA cost for a 46-year-old male at $1,300,000. More than $1,000,000 of the total projection was due to extended prescribing of both long and short acting opioids. Tower recommended a Physician Peer Review followed by direct dialogue with the treating physician. Agreement to wean was obtained in writing and Tower initiated its clinical nurse oversight service to track progress.

Through Tower’s MSP Automation Suite, developed and maintained internally, we were able to drive the weaning process with the physician through tracked monthly calls, and to guide the adjuster as to when discontinued medications should be blocked by the client’s PBM.

Upon finalization of the weaning process, Tower worked with defense to obtain the necessary written language from the treating physician to confirm discontinuation and remove past medications. The final MSA was submitted and approved by CMS for $210,641 – a savings of more than $1,000,000 from the original estimate!

Conclusion

The example provided here is one of many success stories we are seeing, and through our MSP Automation Suite, we’ve been able to manage the process from triage through final CMS submission and approval in a secure, digital environment. Whether handled internally by our team of nurses or through a formal intervention and peer dialogue by one of our physicians, our system drives every step in the process.

Many companies can identify problems, and some even make recommendations. At Tower, we believe the key to successful MSA outcomes is a proactive approach to identify, intervene and remain involved through closure.

Is Opioid Use Under Control in Workers’ Compensation?

April 15, 2014

With the recent publication of the ACOEM Guidelines for Opioid Use and new guidelines from the American Chronic Pain Association (ACPA) that include very specific recommendations to monitor opioid use, the question was raised generically as to whether opioid use is under control in workers’ compensation.  Certainly, with greater specificity in Morphine Equivalent Dosage (MED) directives, reducing the maximum threshold for potential concern for dependency to 50MED, our experiences and research have intensified our understanding of where and how the problem begins.  Does this, then, mean that opioid use is under control?

According to the CDC, the US makes up only 4.5% of the world’s population, yet consumes more than 80% of all opioids.  My short answer, then, is “No, opioid use is not under control in any industry in the US.”

 The title of the cover article in this month’s (April 2014) issue of ‘The American Legion Magazine’ is “Pain’s Addiction: Opioids and the Military Veteran.’  Quoting from the first line of the article,  

By the time Justin Minyard discovered the video of himself stoned, drooling and unable to help his daughter unwrap her Christmas presents, he was taking enough OxyContin, oxycodone and Valium every day to deaden the pain of several terminally ill cancer patients.

And later, from a veteran’s widow,

Just before Ricky’s overdose and death, his medication list included oxycodone (short-acting opioid, pain), hydrocodone (short-acting opioid, pain), Valium (anti-anxiety), Ambien (insomnia), Zoloft (anti-depressant), Gabapentin (Neurontin, neuropathic pain) and Tramadol (Ultram, ‘narcotic like’ medication for moderate to severe pain).

The shocking realization for me…  I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve seen this exact drug regimen in a legacy workers’ compensation claim referred to Tower for an MSA. 

Other Recent Opioid Related Announcements:

  • March, 2014, Attorneys General from 29 states sent letters to the FDA to request the withdrawal of FDA approval for ZOHYDRO, a pure version of the opioid, hydrocodone.
  • 6 days ago, Business Insurance released its latest white paper, “Opioid Abuse, How to Tackle a Growing Problem.”   
  • March, 2014, the Reed Group announced that it dedicated an entire chapter to its Disability Guidelines to provide opioid guidance, documented and independently researched by ACOEM (the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.)
  • February, 2014, the ACPA (American Chronic Pain Association) released its 2014 Resource Guide to Chronic Pain Management.  The guide specifically noted that 30% of hospital admissions among the elderly can be linked to an adverse drug event or toxic effect of opioids and sedatives.

While it remains the exception, I believe this 16-20% segment of the workers’ compensation population consumes more than its reciprocal 85% of the system’s money, time and expertise.  I believe opioid use, combined with its side effects, interactions and impact on quality of life, to be the key driver of cost and appropriate care with the MSA and associated settlement. I support and follow PROP (Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing  http://www.supportprop.org).  I will also continue use our blog, http://www.mspcomplianceblog.com to communicate issues, strategies, treatment guidelines, etc. 

The more we understand about chronic pain, as compared to acute pain, and the effects of long term opioid use, the more aggressive we will be in our efforts to identify and address its potential for misuse early in the claim. 

 

High-Risk Opioid Abuse Is Just As High In Prescribed Users

March 27, 2014

In this JAMA research letter findings show that doctor prescribed opioids cause over-doses just as much, if not more, as non-medical use of prescription pain medicine. People who are at the greatest risk for abuse are those being prescribed pain medication. CDC’s new analysis shows that while non-medical users abuse opioids, prescribed users are even more likely to purchase opioids illegally.
Precautions need to be in place to prevent this type of abuse. Educating physicians and the general public about the dangers of opioid abuse is a crucial step in prevention. Some states are taking steps to prevent opioid abuse by implementing electronic databases that track patient history. This prevents a patient from filling multiple prescriptions at different pharmacies, which is one of the most common occurrences in opioid abuse.

“Many abusers of opioid pain relievers are going directly to doctors for their drugs,” said CDC Director Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. “Health care providers need to screen for abuse risk and prescribe judiciously by checking past records in state prescription drug monitoring programs. It’s time we stop the source and treat the troubled.”