SAN FRANCISCO, CA — State Compensation Insurance Fund is providing a free online training program for its medical provider community to offer guidance and practical tips on opioid prescribing for pain as a result of workplace injuries. Collaborating with Quality HealthCare Concepts, State Fund produced two online education modules where physicians can earn continuing education credits.
“What was once accepted as standard prescribing of opioids for pain is now known to be causing harm,” said Dinesh Govindarao, State Fund’s Chief Medical Officer, who oversaw development of the training program. “This training will re-examine how State Fund’s medical providers approach treatment of pain and teach them to better collaborate with our injured workers to focus on the outcomes that matter most to them – quality of life and restoring their ability to function.”
The use of opioids to treat pain, especially in workers’ compensation cases, has become a national problem. The U.S. is number one in opioid prescribing, causing opioid-analgesic poisoning deaths to nearly quadruple from 1999 to 2011. Studies have shown that opioid use can actually delay an injured worker’s return to work.
Evidence-based research supports State Fund’s guidelines for its medical provider community to prescribe the lowest opioid dose and the shortest duration that is effective.
Reducing opioid use is also important to help control workers’ compensation costs. In 2013, 4,000 State Fund beneficiaries, or about three and a half percent of its patient population, were on Schedule II drugs for more than six months. Thirty percent of State Fund prescription costs are for opioids, which is similar to industry statistics.
The first training program is titled, “Acute Pain Management: Putting use of Opioids in Proper Perspective”, will be available in January 2015. State Fund medical providers must complete both modules by April 30, 2015. Physicians will receive Continuing Medical Education (CME) credit through the University of California, Berkeley’s Center for Occupational and Environmental Health. A second module, titled, “The Use of Opioids in Chronic Pain Management”, will be available In February 2015.