Today’s issue of WorkCompRecap features the Ohio BWC’s recent announcement that the number of opioid-dependent injured workers in its workers’ comp system fell for the sixth consecutive year under its efforts to reduce opioid use and build a model pharmacy program.
The BWC’s Pharmacy Director Nick Trego noted that the number of injured workers who met or exceeded the threshold of being clinically dependent on opioids fell to 3,315 at the end of fiscal year 2017, a 19% drop from 2016, and a 59% decrease since 2011. Trego also noted that total drug costs fell to $86 million in 2017, $47 million less than in 2011, including $24 million less on opioids. In 2011, the BWC worked with addiction experts to define “clinically dependent” and found more than 8,000 injured workers who met that threshold at the end of 2011, which prompted several initiatives to reduce those numbers and improve BWC’s pharmacy operations.
Find out more by clicking here!