PRIUM’s Mark Pew Discusses Impact of the Texas Closed Formulary on Prescriptions Written for Opioids at the San Antonio Claims Association Fall Seminar on Oct. 18

DULUTH, Ga.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mark Pew, senior vice president of business development for PRIUM, a workers’ compensation utilization review company, will discuss the effectiveness of the Texas Closed Formulary (TCF) in reducing the number of workers’ compensation prescriptions written for opioids and other potentially addictive drugs during the San Antonio Claims Association’s Fall Seminar on Oct. 18. The TCF requires physicians to seek authorization before prescribing a group of medications, classified as “N” drugs by the Official Disability Guidelines, to employees who were injured after Sept. 1, 2011.

Pew will reveal the results of an analysis PRIUM conducted with the pharmacy benefit management (PBM) firm Cypress Care/Healthcare Solutions. The research showed that the TCF dramatically reduced the number of prescriptions written for opioids, benzodiazepines and other potentially dangerous drugs. Pew also talks about the likely impact of the Sept. 1, 2013 implementation of Phase II of the TCF, which addresses older claims.

The San Antonio Claims Association’s Fall Seminar will be held from 8:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Oct. 18 at the San Antonio Shrine Auditorium, 901 North Loop 1604 West in San Antonio. Pew’s session is slated for 10:45 a.m. For more information about the event, please go to http://tinyurl.com/9ekeyzp.

ABOUT PRIUM

Based in Duluth, Ga., PRIUM is a URAC-accredited utilization review and medical cost management company providing prospective, concurrent and retrospective medical and pharmaceutical reviews to the workers’ compensation industry. Among its services is a comprehensive complex claims control program, with an emphasis on opioid control, that is rooted in the core principles of peer-to-peer discussion, enforcement through pharmacy benefit management and oversight via PRIUM’s clinical oversight team. To reach PRIUM, call 888-588-4964 or visit www.prium.net. For insight and commentary on medical management issues in workers’ compensation, please visit PRIUM’s blog at http://prium-evidencebased.blogspot.com.