Webinar on Prescription Drug Abuse in Workers' Comp

Joseph Paduda, principal of Health Strategy Associates, will present "Prescription Drug Abuse in Workers' Comp," an hour-long webinar on Thursday, Sept. 1, starting 1 p.m. (PDT)/ 4 p.m. EDT. Produced by WorkCompCentral.com, the webinar offers one continuing education credit to claims professionals and attorneys.

A nationally recognized expert in managing health care costs in workers' compensation, Paduda conducts annual surveys on payers' work comp pharmacy management programs and frequently writes about the overuse of drugs, especially narcotics, on his managedcarematters.com blog.

"About one quarter of the dollars spent on pharmacy in comp are for narcotics, mostly powerful opioids, such as Oxycontin, despite the fact that there is little evidence indicating they are useful in treating chronic musculoskeletal pain," Paduda said.

Paduda will discuss how overutilization occurs, the claimant safety and cost issues involved and the risk of dependency and addiction. The session also illustrates how pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), payers and jurisdictions, including the states of Washington and California, are addressing opioid abuse.

Source: Health Strategy Associates