Findings in Opioids Reported from University of Colorado (Evaluation of an Opioid Pain Teleconsultation Service To Address the Opioid Overdose Epidemic In Colorado: a Health First Colorado Demonstration Project): Opioids

2023 MAR 13 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Investigators publish new report on Opioids. According to news originating from Aurora, Colorado, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “Since the mid-1990s, more than 500,000 deaths have been attributed to the opioid overdose epidemic, which has created a serious national crisis affecting public health and social and economic welfare. To mitigate these opioid-related overdoses and deaths, interventions targeted at both the patient and community level are needed.”

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from the University of Colorado, “This demonstration project sought to determine whether implementation of a provider-to-provider opioid pain teleconsultation service with a pain specialist was correlated with a reduction in inappropriate opioid use and improve health outcomes. Individual-level claims data for Health First Colorado Medicaid members were collected between March 1, 2017, and September 30, 2021, for individuals who triggered a provider-to-provider pain management teleconsultation based on receipt of a prescription for an opioid where the member was receiving a high-dose opioid (n = 125) or was opioid-naive (n = 819). The primary outcome measures were a patient’s opioid dose less than 200 morphine milligram equivalent (MME) by 6 months after the consult if consult was triggered for high-dose use or discontinuation of an opioid by 12 weeks after consult if the consult was triggered for opioid naivety. Secondary opioid-related health outcomes were also assessed. In the high-dose opioid cohort, 87% of the members had their monthly average MME reduced to less than 200 by 180 days after their consult. More than half of the opioid-naive group had discontinued their opioid by 90 days after their consult.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Results indicate that provider-to-provider teleconsultation services with a pain specialist can be an effective intervention at reducing total inappropriate opioid use.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Evaluation of an Opioid Pain Teleconsultation Service To Address the Opioid Overdose Epidemic In Colorado: a Health First Colorado Demonstration Project. Journal of the American Pharmacists Association, 2023;63(1):301-308. Journal of the American Pharmacists Association can be contacted at: Elsevier, Radarweg 29, 1043 Nx Amsterdam, Netherlands.

The news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained from Robert L. Page II, University of Colorado, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 12850 E Montview Blvd, Mail Stop C238, Aurora, CO 80045, United States. Additional authors for this research include Heather D. Anderson, Vanessa Patterson, Garth Wright, Julia E. Rawlings, Gina D. Moore, Brandon Utter, Jeffery Taylor and Jim Leonard.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.japh.2022.11.009. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

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