The Effect of Opioid Use on Workers' Compensation Claim Cost in the State of Michigan

Abstract

The use of opioid medications, particularly long-acting opioid medications, is an independent risk factor for the development of catastrophic claims.

Prescription Opioids for Occupational Injury: Results from Workers' Compensation Claims Records

“…Opioid users filled an average of eight prescriptions (median 2 [p25-p75: 1-7]) within 2 years of the injury onset. Long-term opioid users filled an average of 17 (median 8 [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21]).…”

Guideline for Prescribing Opioids to Treat Pain in Injured Workers

“…10 Other states have seen similar outcomes, including correlation between large-dose escalations and increasing duration of time loss. 2,11,12 Evidence-based guidelines on the management of acute low back pain recommend conservative initial therapies (eg, acetaminophen or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs [NSAIDs]) rather than opioids in almost all cases. 13,14 Opioid-related Adverse Outcomes…”

A New Method of Assessing the Impact of Evidence-Based Medicine on Claim Outcomes

“…16,17 For this reason, it was necessary to introduce an additional metric that scores claims according to expected medical severity. This metric, referred to as the medical complexity score, uses a mix of elastic net regression 18 and stochastic gradient boosting.…”