
Ep. 119: Battling the Opioid Epidemic – What Workers’ Comp Insurers are Doing to Help
Shownotes
Kevin Bingham is the Chief Results Officer at Chesapeake Employers Insurance Company, and President and CEO of their wholly-owned corporate venture capital subsidiary iCubed Ventures, LLC. He is a renowned public speaker and has published more than 80 articles on important trends impacting the insurance industry. He has published nine articles on the Opioid Epidemic.
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Insurance Licensing Services of America (ILSA), America’s premier regulatory compliance experts. To learn more visit ILSAinc.com.
Kevin joins us today to share how workers’ compensation insurers are making a difference in helping prevent opioid dependency and addiction. He provides some background on the history of the opioid epidemic, where leaders have helped to change the perception around opioid use, what some workers’ compensation insurers are doing to drive positive change, the impact of addiction on employers and employees, and some helpful hints to leverage in your daily efforts to help injured workers, friends, and loved ones beat this epidemic.
“America currently has 5% of the world’s population but we consume about 80% of the Opioid supply, and if you go to some of the more carved out drugs we consume about 99% ”
Kevin Bingham
What you’ll learn:
- Kevin’s background and how he developed a passion for winning the war against opioid addiction and dependency.
- The difference between stimulants, opiates, and tranquilizers, and how that fits into the Federal Controlled Substances Act (Schedule I – IV).
- Impactful stories of how opioids have impacted people all around us – positive and not so positive.
- The history of the five vital signs and how the 5th vital sign of pain came about.
- How workers’ compensation insurers are addressing the opioid epidemic to significantly lower opioid usage and medical spending.
- The impact of opioid addiction on employers and the struggles they are facing hiring drug-free workers.
- Tips for fighting the opioid epidemic
Kevin’s recommended websites:
- CDC website (https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/index.html)
- CDC guidelines (https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/prescribing/guideline.html)
- Common elements in guidelines for prescribing opioids for common pain (https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/pdf/common_elements_in_guidelines_for_prescribing_opioids-a.pdf)
- CDC nonopioid treatment for chronic pain flyer (https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/pdf/nonopioid_treatments-a.pdf)
- NCHS data visualization pilot which allows you to drill down to the state and county level on overdose deaths per 100,000 (https://blogs.cdc.gov/nchs-data-visualization/drug-poisoning-mortality/)
- 2015 MA Governor’s Opioid Working Group Report (https://www.mass.gov/files/documents/2016/07/vb/recommendations-of-the-governors-opioid-working-group.pdf)
- Brandeis University PDMP center of excellence (http://www.pdmpassist.org/)
- Stamp out the stigma website (http://stampoutstigma.com/pledge.html)
- Oregon Narcan training video (https://www.oregon.gov/oha/ph/ProviderPartnerResources/EMSTraumaSystems/Pages/epi-protocol-training.aspx)
- Chesapeake Employers’ Insurance Company opioid kit (https://www.ceiwc.com/safety-university/Special%20Programs/index.html)
Kevin’s recommended APPs:
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services MAT APP (SAMHSA) – Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) education, 355 page book on MAT
- SAMHSA Treatment Locator APP – Location based treatment locator providing facility information (e.g., location, type of care, treatment approaches, etc.)