EMPLOYERS® Opioid Program
EMPLOYERS® has developed a three-part program to help control workers’ compensation costs through the nationwide epidemic of prescription drug abuse. The pilot test of our innovative program, which recently wrapped-up, proved immensely successful and resulted in millions of dollars in cost savings over its 18 month test period.
The EMPLOYERS opioid program, now set to roll out on an even larger scale, takes a proactive approach to help control the prescription rate and patient use of opioid narcotics in workers’ compensation claims. This approach includes everyone involved in the claims process: the workers’ compensation carrier, injured employees, workers’ compensation physicians and pharmacy benefits managers.
The three prongs of EMPLOYERS’ opioid program are:
- Training physicians to recognize the signs of opioid abuse and encouraging them to consider other effective pain management alternatives.
- Recommending network physicians who successfully return injured workers to their jobs without over-prescribing opioid pain medications.
- Enhanced drug testing procedures that enable earlier detection of potential abuse and drug diversion.
Through this plan, EMPLOYERS will continue to promote safe use of opioid prescription drug therapy and discourage opioid addiction, which lowers workplaces safety, prolongs disability claims, and increases the risk of death due to an overdose.