Opioid drug abuse has fast become one of the United States’ most serious public health epidemics of our time. Recent losses of well-known celebrities attest to the pervasiveness of the situation. The extensive reach of this epidemic affects all sectors of American society, provoking President Obama to request Congress to allocate $1.1 billion to address the issue and the Center of Disease Control (CDC) to redefine guidelines regarding the prescribing of these addictive drugs.
Adva-Net, a comprehensive pain management provider network, has recently introduced a workers’ compensation focused addiction recovery network to complement their pain management service offerings. “By creating an addiction recovery network that works in concert with our pain management program, we are better equipped to address the addiction component of a claim, as well as provide focus on the functional restoration of an injured worker, and do so with alternative treatments to opioids and narcotics” claims Paul Norkett, COO of Adva-Net.
The workers’ compensation sector has not been immune to opioid and narcotic abuse and overuse. An estimated 55-85% of injured workers receive narcotics for chronic pain relief. As a result, as many as 35% of patients with chronic pain have become addicted to their pain medications. Norkett adds, “The impact has proven to be economically costly to employers, as well as personally costly to injured workers.” The cost of claims triples when prescription drugs are involved. The industry itself spends approximately $1.4 billion dollars annually on opioids and narcotics.
“It stands to reason that, in the midst of this dangerous environment of pervasive substance abuse, our relationship with the workers’ compensation community has allowed us to develop a response to the work-related addiction problem,” comments Dr. Neil Kalia, Adva-Net’s VP of Provider Relations. He adds, “While returning the worker to his or her previous level of personal and professional productivity is our primary objective, our care coordination model for addiction recovery offers real cost savings to workers’ compensation insurance carriers, third party administrators and self-administered employers alike.”
By teaming with well-known providers such as the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, Kemah Palms Recovery LLC, as well as other prominent national addiction recovery providers who have a focus on functional restoration, Adva-Net is well equipped and positioned to deliver superior outcomes to the patients and payor communities alike.
About Adva-Net
Adva-Net is the nation’s largest and most progressive pain management network, with access to over 23,000 contracted in-network providers and locations. Led by a senior management team with over 100 years of combined experience in the workers’ compensation industry, Adva-Net is able to generate significant savings and cost penetration on specialty pain management bills, and provides access to an expansive treatment network, including: evaluations, injections, physical and behavioral rehabilitation, drug screening and addiction recovery. Based in Sarasota, Florida, Adva-Net serves clients nationally and can be reached at 941-313-3300, or via www.adva-net.com