Stemming The Tide Of Prescription Opioid Overuse, Misuse, And Abuse

This article describes how Kaiser Permanente, one of the nation’s largest not-for-profit health plans, is working to reduce opioid abuse among its more than 10 million members, and offers insight for the health care system as a whole. How We Got Here Beginning in the late 1990s, patient advocacy organizations began asking the medical community whether pain was being under-treated. In 1999, the Veterans Health Administration launched the “Pain as the 5th Vital Sign” initiative, urging doctors to assess pain at every visit. Soon, other major health care accreditation and regulatory authorities, such as the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, joined the movement to improve pain management. At the same time, specialty societies, such as the American Geriatric Society and the American Pain Society, promoted the use of opioids for treating chronic, non-cancer pain. The prevailing wisdom among physicians, supported by research, reinforced the misconception that opioids would not create dependence or addiction and could be used safely for long-term treatment of pain. Pharmaceutical companies also aggressively marketed the drugs to providers and patients. With all these forces at work, it is not surprising that physicians became more comfortable prescribing opioids for less severe pain. Fewer than 20 years after pain became the 5th vital sign, these changes in practice—while intended to improve pain management—have also led to a major ...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - Category: Health Management Authors: Tags: Drugs and Medical Technology Health Professionals Hospitals Innovations in Care Delivery Organization and Delivery Population Health Public Health addiction chronic pain Kaiser Permanente oxycodones Substance Abuse Source Type: blogs