INBW22: A Very Practical Opioid Alternatives Program for Employers

Let’s talk about the opioid crisis for a moment. When we say the words “opioids crisis,” as a general broad stroke, many people immediately picture somebody who lives under a bridge. But that actually wouldn’t be your average profile of someone with a substance misuse/opioid problem. The average profile of someone with an opioid/substance misuse profile looks exactly like an employee. In fact, 75% of adults up to the age of 64 with a misuse issue are in the workforce. And the cost to an employer of someone addicted to a long-acting opioid such as oxycontin is $117,000, on average, if you count the medical spend and loss of productivity. My name is Stacey Richter. I am the host of the Relentless Health Value podcast and co-president of a cause-driven organization called QC-Health®. We started QC-Health® to do what we can to improve the state of health care in this country today, which is, by the way, the mission of this podcast as well.

You can learn more at QC-MyMeds.org.

When not hosting the show, Stacey is co-president of Aventria Health Group, a marketing agency and consultancy. Aventria specializes in helping pharmaceutical, employer, pharmacy, and health system clients improve patient outcomes by creating and leveraging collaborations with other health care organizations. For more than 20 years, Stacey has innovated better-coordinated health solutions benefiting all stakeholders, and, most of all, the patient.

01:46 One of the programs QC-Health® is sponsoring—QC-MyMeds™. 02:10 SinfoníaRx—one of the most well-respected medication therapy management (MTM) providers in the country. 02:23 What QC-MyMeds™ essentially is. 02:55 Why QC-Health® thought it was important to take a proven program to even the smallest employer. 03:57 How QC-Health® aims to helper smaller employers. 04:08 The QC-MyMeds™ approach. 05:51 “This program does not aim to boil the ocean.” 06:02 “The problem with opioids is that they change your brain chemistry.” 06:29 Connecting the dots between service programs and employees who need them. 07:01 Eliminating barriers for small employers. 08:49 Stacey presented QC-MyMeds™ at the World Health Care Conference.

You can learn more at QC-MyMeds.org.