Patient perspective, complexities, and challenges in managed care.

Background: Lack of coordination of care is one of the largest obstacles involved with treating opioid dependence. Physicians also face the challenges of managing comorbidities and dealing with relapse.

Objective: To examine the clinical, economic, and humanistic factors involved in treating opioid dependence.

Summary: Despite the extensive utilization of narcotic analgesics, pain is often uncontrolled. Effective pain management and coordination of care is essential in treating pain patients, as patients who abuse pain medications consume more health care resources than nonabusers. Patients who abuse are 2.3 times more likely to present at the emergency department and 6.7 times more likely to be hospitalized than nonabusers. Managed care organizations are now incorporating integrated approaches to treating pain and substance abuse disorders, realizing that patients must be looked at as a whole, considering alternative and behavioral therapies in addition to pharmacological treatments. They are also able to assess patterns of abuse using pharmacy claims data and alert physicians to potential problems by making use of prescription monitoring programs. Physicians who treat chronic pain must utilize strategies to minimize the risk of developing dependence on opioids, and practitioners treating opioid dependence must employ policies to optimize outcomes. Such strategies include developing pain contracts; performing random urine screenings and pill counts; and setting goals of therapy and re-evaluating patients throughout treatment. Plans must be in place in the event of relapse, as well.

Conclusion: In order to be successful in managing opioid dependence, physicians, employers, and managed care organizations must work together to provide an integrated approach to treatment.