The increasing number of opioid overdose deaths over the last decade has resulted in a public health response centered around thoughtful opioid prescribing practices and careful consideration of risk versus benefit when initiating opioids for pain treatment. In 2016, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released guidelines around prescribing opioids for chronic pain, …
Last month, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) proposed reforms that would revise the regulations governing patient records of substance use disorder and treatment that are subject to extra privacy laws. The current federal law, known as 42 CFR Part 2 (Confidentiality of Substance Use Disorder Patient Records regulation), predates the Health Insurance …
Proposed Changes to 42 CFR Part 2: What You Need to Know Read More »
A recent McKinsey and Co. study suggests the nationwide prevalence of opioid use disorder (OUD) could be upwards of four to six million people, significantly higher than government estimates. And despite progress toward increasing addiction treatment access, only 25% of those with OUD receive any kind of treatment and only half of those are still …
For health plans and providers, managing patients on opioids requires a delicate balance between the patient’s pain management needs and the risk of opioid misuse. We asked our clinical experts to highlight their biggest challenges to improving care for patients on opioids, and their answers reflect the changing pain management and addiction landscape. 1. Lack …
By Holly Little, PharmD, Clinical Pharmacy Specialist, and Bethany Bedford, PharmD, BCACP, CPE, Principal, Clinical Advisor New Markets and Programs Constructed for the busy clinician, the PAINWeekEnd Regional Conference Series is a precursor to the renowned PAINWeek conference and brings certified medical education to healthcare professionals in all disciplines with an interest in pain management. …
Roughly 40% of patients in need of knee, hip or shoulder joint replacement are prescribed opioids prior to surgery. However, preoperative opioid use is associated with worse patient outcomes, higher health plan costs, higher opioid use during the surgical hospital stay, and a lower likelihood of discontinuing opioids after surgery. In our most recent study …
Higher Opioid Dose = Higher Surgical Spend & Worse Patient Outcomes Read More »
By Stacey E. Grant, PharmD, VP of Clinical Operations In February, I had the opportunity to spend time with state lawmakers and advocate on behalf of the healthcare community for patients with chronic pain and patients in need of opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment during the Tennessee Pharmacists Association (TPA) Pharmacy Day on the Hill …
axial Takeaway: Tennessee Pharmacists Association Pharmacy Day on the Hill Read More »
By David Simon, Ph.D., Research Data Scientist Predicting a patient’s risk for adverse outcomes is an important part of delivering personalized care and improving the lives of patients. In order to achieve these goals, axialHealthcare has developed a number of machine learning models that quantify patient risk. An exciting example is our machine learning model …
“We want to make sure that as we deal with the opioid crisis, we keep in mind those Americans who are hurting.” This statement was made by Senate Health Committee Chairman Senator Lamar Alexander during this week’s Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) Committee Hearing amidst increasing public discussion of the impact of the opioid …
By Meridith Peratikos, Director of Enterprise Research In January, researchers and technologists across a wide range of disciplines and job sectors converged at the RStudio::conf 2019 in Austin, Texas to celebrate and learn about R, a programming language for statistical computing and graphics, as well as discuss RStudio tools that make using R for business …
