Opioid Toolkit
As part of our commitment to both health partners and beneficiaries, we want to provide resources that support your professional practice and encourage best practices in opioid use and pain management. Evidence-based medicine does not support long-term opioid treatment for chronic pain unrelated to sickle cell disease or cancer or to patients receiving palliative or end-of-life care.
CareSource offers the following resources as reference when treating patients with long-term high-dose opiate use.
Prescribing/Dosages
- CDC Checklist for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain
- CDC Prescription Drug Monitoring
- CDC Calculating Total Daily Dose
- Fact Sheet – CDC Guidelines for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain
Other
- Clinical Guidance for Treating Pregnant and Parenting Women with Opioid Use Disorder and Their Infants
- CDC Assessing Benefits and Harms of Opioid Therapy
- CDC Nonopioid Treatments for Chronic Pain
- Conditions – Hospital Readmissions
- VA/DoD Clinical Practice Guideline for the Use of Opioids in the Management of Chronis Pain
- VA/DoD clinical Guidelines and resources for Substance Use Disorders (SUD)
Drug Safety: Take Back Programs
Community Drug Take Back Programs are the safest opportunity to dispose of leftover medications to protect families, those at risk for drug abuse, and our environment.
- Beneficiaries can find a drug take back location near them by going here.
- Information on needle exchange programs can be found here.
Additional guidelines for safe medicine and needle disposal can be found at the following websites:
- Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
- Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
DisposeRx® Request Form: Beneficiaries can receive a free DisposeRx packet to help them dispose of unused or expired medications.
Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PMP)
CSMV has a PMP for monitoring provider prescription drug prescribing to ensure compliance with TRICARE requirements, promote safe prescribing practices, identify potential misuse or overuse, and support quality care for our beneficiaries. This program consists of a quarterly review of all providers who prescribed controlled substance prescriptions.
PMP goals include:
- Maintaining compliance with the guidelines described within 32 CFR 199.4
- Monitoring provider prescribing practices of controlled substances, such as, but not limited to, opioids
- Ensuring providers are practicing within the appropriate clinical practice guidelines according to specialty and disease/condition
- Providing education and resources to providers when needed; and
- Improving communication with providers and increasing safety and effectiveness of treatment.