Table III.

Measures That Payers Can Take to Support Physicians in the Safe, Effective Use of Opioid Medications

Reimbursement for pain management services and ancillary support to allow effective implementation of Universal Precautions, including reimbursement for:

• Time spent on patient education and counseling

• Urine drug testing and other relevant laboratory tests

Creation of a decision-support infrastructure that includes:

• Automated risk information based on patient records or provider input

• Ready access to prescription monitoring data

• Urine drug testing and other relevant test results

• Claims based evidence for previous adverse outcomes, such as emergency department visits

• Information on addiction referral options if needed

Education and training for the health care team on:

• Effective management of chronic pain

• Best practices for opioid prescription

• Identification and management of complications of opioid use