Managing Opioids in workers comp – What to do?

I’m up at zero-dark-thirty this am to catch a flight to St Louis, where the International Association of Industrial Accident Boards and Commissions (IAIABC) is hosting a meeting addressing many of the biggest issues confronting workers comp. The three-hour session I’ll be wrapping up today focuses on managing narcotics in work comp, and I’m hoping to learn what works and how.
Unfortunately, it looks like there’ll be a lot more discussion of the size, extent, and impact of the problem of overprescribing of narcotic opioids as there aren’t a lot of long term success stories out there.
There are myriad reasons for the huge growth in the volume of narcotics prescribed in the United States, many of which are way outside the control of those of us in the work comp space. As happens so often in comp, we’re buffeted by societal, economic, cultural, and demographic factors, often left to wonder how the world changed so quickly, and so dramatically, and what, if anything, we can do about it.
Fortunately, there are a couple models out there that hold out significant promise, that appear well-designed to help moderate the growth in the use of narcotics.
Perhaps the best is from Washington State, where the state fund (known as L&I) has long been aware of the issue, and under the leadership of Gary Franklin, has been working diligently to develop and implement intelligent solutions.

I’m going to be listening hard today to the other speakers, and will report back on what I learn.
Thanks to IAIABC for dedicating the time this issue so desperately requires.