NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AmTrust Financial Services, Inc. (AmTrust), a leader in workers’ compensation insurance across the U.S., has partnered with a pharmacy care management company, Optum Workers’ Comp and Auto No-Fault (Optum), to implement an innovative program to improve outcomes and reduce opioids prescribed to injured workers. The program, initiated in June 2018, reduced the number of prescriptions containing opioids by 13,000, compared to the prior year, and assured that claimants are receiving the right treatment at the right time and for the right duration.
The AmTrust Opioid Prescription Risk Report examines the effects of the opioid epidemic on the workers’ compensation space and details the progress the AmTrust and Optum partnership has achieved in reducing claims with opioids and replacing these with safer, alternative treatments. The percent of workers’ comp claims with prescriptions containing opioids went down from 60% in Q4 2017 to 25% in Q4 2018. The average day supply of opioids held by patients decreased 57.3% over this same time period as the average transactions per claimant containing opioids went down by 21.6%.
Melissa Burke, PharmD, Head of Managed Care and Clinical, AmTrust, said, “Our adjusters are partnering with licensed nurses at Optum to review prescriptions to determine if medications are safe and necessary to ensure appropriate medication management for our injured employees. This partnership has had a powerful effect on reducing the amount and duration of opioid use among the employee populations of the companies we insure. This process is leading to lower costs and better outcomes for injured workers and their employers across the board.”
Chronic pain affects more than 100 million Americans and the use of opioids to treat this pain has been a major driver in the opioid epidemic. Over the last year, AmTrust adjusters and licensed nurses at Optum have worked together to review claims and take a proactive stance against this epidemic.
A full copy of the “AmTrust Opioid Prescription Risk Report” can be accessed at www.amtrustfinancial.com/opioids.
About AmTrust Financial Services, Inc.
AmTrust Financial Services, Inc., a multinational insurance holding company headquartered in New York, offers specialty property and casualty insurance products, including workers' compensation, commercial automobile, general liability and extended service and warranty coverage. For more information about AmTrust visit www.amtrustfinancial.com