I spent most of Sunday and yesterday speaking at several sessions at the Florida Workers’ Comp Educational Conference in Orlando. Nothing like Orlando in August. Also on the panels were several physicians from Florida, Gerry Sander, a PharmD from Express Scripts, George Furlong of Choice Medical Management (a client), and Nancy Brennan of SRS.
Here are a few takeaways.
1. There are a relatively few physicians – my guess is less than 15% – who are problem prescribers. These are the ones who write scripts for Actiq (a narcotic that is only approved for break through cancer pain), Oxycontin in the first month of an injury, and massive doses of other opioids and narcotics. Most of the physicians in the audience were appalled at this prescribing behavior. One physician, Dr. Richard Dolsey of Miami, noted that of the many physicians in his group, and the thousands of patients seen each year, he could not recall a single script for either of these drugs.
2. Although their numbers are small, these “bad prescribing” physicians have an impact on cost that is disproportionally high – Oxycontin and similar pharmaceuticals are the most costly drugs in WC (they account for more dollars spent than any others.)
3. One of the biggest problems with these drugs is their potential for addiction. Once addicted, the addiction treatment becomes the financial and legal responsibility of the WC payer. Detox can be extremely expensive, is quite difficult, to say nothing of the human toll on the individual and their family. One of the physicians on the Sunday panel is a pain management doc – a Dr. Silverman – he recommended a relatively new detox therapy, suboxone, administered in a physician’s office that appears to work quite well with minimal side effects.
4. Physician education is seen as a long term solution or means of addressing drug costs in WC. However, I have my doubts – the entire drug spend in WC is about $3 billion this year, which is less than what drug companies spend on direct-to-consumer advertising. Significance? Hard to penetrate the consumer or physician mind when our resources are so limited.
5. That said, the industry can adopt data mining techniques to identify potentially problematic physicians, patients, or pharmacies and adopt educational approaches targeting specific problems. These should be educational and not confrontational in approach.
The gratifying thing about the two days was the dialogue, recognition of the extent of the problem, and willingness on the part of physicians and payers to address the issues.
What does this mean for you?
Drug costs are the fastest growing part of the WC medical dollar – and perhaps the hardest to address. Start by educating yourself on the problem, and realize that many physicians are doing the right thing, and only a few are problematic.
For articles specific to drugs in WC click here.
Aug
23
