There’s an excellent thread in Mark Walls’ LinkedIn group on the impact of opioid abuse on workers comp. Mark’s asked members to publicize the issue and among the fifty-plus comments are many thoughtful and well-considered responses, including several by physicians very knowledgeable about and engaged in the issue.
The dialogue is remarkable for its depth and detail; providers, attorneys, claims professionals, clinical managers, employers and
There’s also at least one provider opining that opioid abuse isn’t a problem and we should just let physicians do what they want because they went to medical school and we didn’t. His ignorance is stunning, but fortunately, his views are held by a minority of one.
The rest of the commenters are well aware of the dimension and impact of the problem, and several advance excellent, and pragmatic, approaches to addressing opioid overprescribing.
I think this social media thing just may take off…
Kudos to Safety National for encouraging Mark to engage in these issues. The impact he’s having is pretty impressive for someone who describes himself as “just a claims guy”.
Oct
17
The use of opioids in workers comp is a sign of a failure of the system. Thanks for making this an issue.
Paul Hooper (Hoop)