Opioid Abuse Disorder: The Toll on Our Workforce
Learn how opioid use disorder is affecting workplace safety, productivity and presenteeism, and what employers can do to help employees in need.
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Putting the brakes
on the opioid epidemic
The opioid crisis does not discriminate. Anyone is vulnerable. Everyone is affected.
With your help, Express Scripts is combating this epidemic, fighting for the lives of grandfathers, daughters, friends and your employees by working to stop opioid abuse in its tracks. Learn how you can stop the opioid epidemic.
What is our Advanced Opioid Management® solution?
A clinically-driven solution combatting a nationally recognized crisis, our Advanced Opioid Management suite of services provide a dynamic way to fight opioid abuse, meeting patients at the doctor’s office, at the pharmacy and at home. Watch our video to learn more about the opioid crisis and how together, we can make a change.
Watch the video to learn about the opioid crisis and how together, we can make a difference.
How does the Advanced Opioid Management solution work?
At the doctor's office:
- Alerts sent when opioids are prescribed to patients with mental health prescriptions or prenatal vitamin prescription
- Alerts sent when patient activity indicates potential abuse
- Prescriber education & peer comparison
- Alerts sent recommending proactive naloxone therapy when appropriate
- Enhanced Fraud, Waste & Abuse
At home:
- Proactive Neuroscience Therapeutic Research Center pharmacist outreach will include Medication Assisted Therapy support
- Mental health, suicide and additional hotline information delivered to patients
- Informational letter detailing the risks of opioid use
- Supply of drug disposal bags, when needed, reducing the chance for excessive use or distribution
At the pharmacy:
- Seven-day supply limit for adults initiating opioid therapy for each of their first 4 fills5
- Three-day supply limit for children initiating opioid therapy for each of their first 4 fills6
- Prior authorization required for members starting opioids who accumulate > 90 MME
- Prior authorization required for members who accumulate > 200MME
- Prior authorization on first fill of a long-acting opioid to encourage a safe start
- Safer fentanyl utilization initiatives
- Opioid adjacent therapy quantity limits
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Automated message at point of care via EHR on potential misuse and abuse, along with morphine equivalent dose (MED) communication
Enhanced prior authorization stops long-acting opioid prescription without a previous long-acting opioid in member's claim history
Auto-lock management triggers an intervention that directs patients to a single provider
Educational letter after first fill outlines the potential risks associated with opioid use
Proactive outreach from specialized Neuroscience Therapeutic Resource CenterSM pharmacists triggered when potential abuse or misuse is identified
Deactivation drug disposal bags provide patients with a safe way to dispose of unused opioids - thereby preventing future opioid misuse
Auto-lock management keeps members locked into one pharmacy
Pharmacy interventions for members accumulating greater than 200mg MED
Concurrent drug utilization review programs help ensure that opioid prescriptions are appropriate, medically necessary and unlikely to result in adverse medical consequences
First-time users prescribed short-acting opioids are restricted to an initial 7-day supply
On average, the program has seen a nearly 55% reduction
in the average days' supply for new opioid-prescribed patients.7
(from 18.6 days' supply per prescription to 8.3)
The first 90 days of the program has seen a nearly
60%reduction
in the average days' supply for new opioid-prescribed patients — from 18.6 days' supply per prescription to 7.5
Prevention is key
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2 Million
people are addicted to prescription narcotics4
The fight starts here
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Our Lasting Legacy of Education
Express Scripts has a long history of working to make the use of prescription medications safer, and our Advanced Opioid Management solution is just one of the products of our efforts.
We support national and state intervention. However, we know that government regulations and initiatives are only one part of the solution. The answers lie in education, coordination and action. Our efforts are receiving national attention, and you can join us in creating change. Preview our leadership library below, and start learning about how you can directly contribute to solving the opioid crisis.
The odds of continuing opioid use after one year are
20%
after receiving a ten-day supply1
The opioid crisis accounts for
$25 billion
in lost productivity annually3
