Regulations reduced opioid prescriptions for injured workers
While policies aimed to catch potential abuse, they did not hinder the ability of injured workers to access opioids, a WCRI study found.
Must-access prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs), which were developed to reign in excessive prescribing and potential abuse of opioids, have succeeded in reducing the amount of opioids prescribed to injured workers, according to a study by the Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI).
PDMPs are legal requirements that health care providers access a state-level database with a patient’s prescription history before prescribing controlled substances under certain circumstances.
While these regulations reduced the amount of opioids prescribed after a work injury, as well as the number of prescriptions for claims with opioids, they did not significantly change whether a hurt worker would receive opioids, WCRI reported.
Among workers’ comp claims that including opioids as part of the pain management plan, must-access PDMPs contributed to a 12% decrease in the likelihood the patient received the pills on a longer-term basis.
“The policies examined were part of an extensive effort by stakeholders at local, state, and national levels to address potential excessive opioid prescribing and opioid abuse,” John Ruser, president and CEO of WCRI, said in a release. “Must-access PDMPs reduced the amount of opioids prescribed to workers without changing the likelihood that workers had any opioid prescriptions.”
Further, regulations that limited initial opioid prescriptions didn’t have much effect on whether an injured worker received opioids. They did, however, contribute to a reduction in opioid use among those with prescription, WCRI research found.
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