Cigna's Partnership with Physicians Successfully Reduces Opioid Use by 25 Percent – One Year Ahead of Goal
March 28 2018 - 7:00AM
Business Wire
Milestone achieved through a collaborative
approach, focused on safer prescribing and expanded case management
support
Cigna (NYSE: CI) today announced that in partnership with more
than 1.1 million prescribing clinicians, the global health service
company has achieved a 25 percent reduction in opioid use among its
customers, reaching this key metric one year ahead of its ambitious
initial goal. The broad based effort meaningfully contributes to
curbing the opioid epidemic, which has taken thousands of lives,
sidelined millions of workers and diverted billions of dollars in
the United States.
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Cigna reduces opioid use among customers
by 25 percent. (Photo: Business Wire)
In May 2016, Cigna brought together resources across its
medical, behavioral and pharmacy programs to identify ways that the
company could harness its physician-partnership model to interrupt
the cycle of addiction while assuring that people who have no
alternatives to manage their pain retained clinically appropriate
access to the remedies prescribed by their doctor. One key metric
in the effort was to reduce opioid use among its customers by 25
percent by 2019. The company selected 25 percent because this
reduction would return customers’ usage of opioids to pre-epidemic
levels.
“We committed to this reduction for our customers because we
recognized the severity of the epidemic and its impact on people
from every walk of life, their families, employers and
communities,” said David M. Cordani, Cigna President and Chief
Executive Officer. “We are proud that we achieved this goal early,
but even more importantly, we did so by enhancing patient support
and ensuring our customers have access to the right care at the
right time. There is still much more work to do, and we are focused
on continuing to push forward on these efforts every day.”
To track against the 25 percent metric, Cigna measured the total
volume of opioids being prescribed based on morphine milligram
equivalent doses, taking into account the number of pills, the
dosing of those pills, as well as the relative strengths of the
different opioid medications. Cigna collaborated with physicians,
dentists, patient awareness and support organizations in local
communities to identify immediate and longer-term approaches that
increased safeguards in the opioid prescribing process, enhanced
support and counseling, and made it easier to access treatments for
substance use disorders. Specifically, the company:
- Convened more than 2,000 medical groups
representing more than 65,000 doctors in a focused effort to reduce
opioid prescribing and to treat opioid use disorder as a chronic
condition, one patient at a time.
- Notified physicians of risks of
possible misuse or overuse, suggested by an integrated analysis of
pharmacy, medical and mental health (behavioral) benefits.
- Engaged with more than 85,000
prescribers annually whose patients have a concerning pattern of
opioid prescription use to ensure that prescriptions are
appropriate, medically necessary and safe for the patient.
- Worked closely with clients to
implement opioid utilization management solutions.
- Opened Cigna’s 24/7/365 free counseling
helplines to all veterans and their caregivers, whether they are
Cigna customers or not, to help this community which is
particularly vulnerable in this national epidemic.
- Convened local leaders to better
understand the impact of the epidemic in communities like New York,
Houston and Los Angeles and identify solutions together that create
greater awareness, more innovative treatments, and prevention.
“We collaborated with Cigna very early on, looking at the opioid
prescription habits of our physicians and trying to get our
practice more commensurate with national guidelines,” said Dr. John
Bertini of Renaissance Physicians in Houston, Texas. “Cigna set
itself apart because of their interest in the health of the
patient. Clearly the inappropriate use of opioids is detrimental to
the health of the patient, their family and the community on many
levels. As we work together to address this problem, we are
enhancing the health of the populations of patients that we
collectively serve.”
In the United States, an estimated 2.5 million people suffer
from substance use disorders related to prescription opioid pain
relievers. Cigna recognizes that substance use disorders are
complex, chronic conditions that are frequently accompanied by
other behavioral or medical conditions. To address this growing
health issue, the company tapped into its extensive experience with
prevention, wellness and chronic disease management programs, and
worked with clients, physicians, regulators, patient advocacy
groups and others to develop ways to increase prevention and
treatment of substance use disorders.
Cigna will expand an existing program that uses predictive
analytics to identify patients who are more likely to suffer from
an overdose and prompts interventions to help prevent the overdose
from happening. These efforts will be targeted in key regions of
the country that have been hit particularly hard by opioid
overdoses.
This summer, Cigna is also instituting additional safety
measures to further align with national and regional guidelines
aimed at minimizing the risk of medications that are more likely to
cause an opioid overdose. These measures include limiting the
duration of certain opioid prescriptions and ensuring daily dosage
measurements do not exceed safe quantities, as appropriate.
The company is also initiating a consumer-focused initiative
focused on prevention. The campaign will educate Americans about
pain, how it manifests, how it is treated and ultimately, how to
manage it as safely as possible. The initiative is meant to better
equip patients to have informed conversations with their health
care providers about their pain and the risks and benefits
associated with opioid prescriptions.
About Cigna
Cigna Corporation (NYSE: CI) is a global health service company
dedicated to helping people improve their health, well-being and
sense of security. All products and services are provided
exclusively by or through operating subsidiaries of Cigna
Corporation, including Cigna Health and Life Insurance Company,
Connecticut General Life Insurance Company, Life Insurance Company
of North America and Cigna Life Insurance Company of New York. Such
products and services include an integrated suite of health
services, such as medical, dental, behavioral health, pharmacy,
vision, supplemental benefits, and other related products including
group life, accident and disability insurance. Cigna maintains
sales capability in 30 countries and jurisdictions, and has more
than 95 million customer relationships throughout the world. To
learn more about Cigna®, including links to follow us on Facebook
or Twitter, visit https://www.cigna.com
HOW CIGNA IS TACKLING
THE NATIONAL OPIOID EPIDEMIC: BY THE NUMBERS
Cigna has been aggressively fighting the crisis by reducing the
use of opioids among our customers and collaborating with
physicians and other parties to find workable solutions.
- 1st: national
managed care organization to provide increased reimbursement to
physicians for the induction phase of treatment with Suboxone, back
in 2007.
- 25%: reduction of U.S.
customers’ opioid use by 2019, committed by Cigna in May 2016, which would
return customers’ usage back to a pre-epidemic level.
- 65,000 Physicians: Signed
Cigna’s pledge (launched in November 2016) to reduce opioid
prescriptions and treat opioid use disorders as chronic conditions
representing more than 650 medical groups
- 2 years: of de-identified
customer claims given from Cigna to the American Society of
Addiction Medicine (ASAM) in May 2016 to create national
standards to help providers evaluate how they’re performing and
ensure that patients receive high-quality care.
- 24/7/365: Cigna opened its
counseling helplines to veterans and their caregivers in 2017,
whether they are Cigna customers or not, to help the veteran
community who is severely impacted by the opioid epidemic.
Steps to Combat the Epidemic: Executing Pharmacy Changes and
Engaging with Providers
- Cigna lifted prior authorization for
medication-assisted treatment (MAT) to ensure availability for
customers.
- 97%: of at-risk individuals
expected to be identified if clinicians check local Prescription
Drug Management Program (PDMP) databases when prescribing more than
a 21-day supply of narcotic painkillers. Cigna now requires this
check, and also actively tracks possible inappropriate use and
informs prescribers when a potential issue is identified.
- Cigna provides physicians in its
networks with profiles on how their prescribing habits compare with
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines, as
well as compare their prescribing habits with other doctors in
their community.
- 85,000: Prescribers who we
engage with annually whose patients have a concerning pattern of
opioid prescription use to ensure that prescriptions are
appropriate, medically necessary and safe for the patient.
Advocacy Partnerships with the Cigna Foundation
- $300,000: donated by the Cigna
Foundation in July 2017 to the Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans
of America (IAVA) for a three-year expansion of IAVA’s Rapid
Response Referral Program
- $200,000: donated by the Cigna
Foundation to Shatterproof (a national non-profit committed
to protecting loved ones from a dependence on illicit and
prescription drugs and alcohol) for the development of an online
portal to help people understand, prevent, intervene, treat and
recover from substance use disorders.
- Cigna’s Chris Hocevar, president of
strategy, segments and solutions, sits on the steering committee of
Shatterproof’s Substance Use Disorder Treatment Task Force,
which is developing a private sector-oriented plan to actualize the
2016 recommendations from the Surgeon General’s Report on Alcohol,
Drugs, and Health.
- $50,000: donated by the Cigna
Foundation to Pennsylvania District Attorneys Institute to make
naloxone available for use by first responders in
Pennsylvania.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180328005526/en/
MEDIA:CignaEllie Polack,
860.902.4906elinor.polack@cigna.com
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