With Prescriber Interventions, Highmark Reduces Risky Opioid Use Among Members

The opioid epidemic — which by one measure peaked in 2017, when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recorded 17,029 U.S. deaths involving prescription opioids — is far from over. In fact, CDC data show that deaths tied to prescription opioids, after declining in 2018 and 2019, came roaring back with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and totaled 16,416 in 2020.

As the country continues to grapple with this stubborn issue, health insurers have learned they have a role to play in helping stop would-be opioid use disorder cases where many originate: with well-meaning doctors poised to write out a prescription. One such insurer is Pittsburgh-based Highmark, which is engaged in a multiyear partnership with a company called Wayspring to track providers’ prescribing habits and reach out to educate those who appear to deviate from the CDC’s recently updated clinical practice guidelines for prescribing opioids for pain.

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