Rite Aid's EnvisionRx takes steps to minimize opioid addiction risk
TWINSBURG, Ohio — In response to the nation’s opioid epidemic, Rite Aid’s pharmacy benefit manager, EnvisionRx, has enhanced its opioid and pain management program to make prescription fill limits and monitoring part of the program.
“As our nation endures a health crisis around opioid dependency, we are in a unique position to change the way opioids are used by our members,” said Frank Sheehy, CEO of pharmacy services and healthcare company EnvisionRxOptions. “Prescription fill limits and monitoring as a part of our pain management program will help minimize the risk of opioid addiction, especially for those patients who are being prescribed opioids for the first time.”
The EnvisionCare Pain Management program now includes pre-emptive prescription strategies, such as limiting first-time fills to seven days, prior authorizations on certain medications and shortened windows to refill prescriptions. This program aligns with the healthcare company’s overall pain management strategy, as well as the guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
EnvisionCare Pain Management, which includes an opt-out feature for clients not wishing to implement this program, focuses on patient safety through communication, education and outreach, as well as interventions that avoid excessive dosing and dangerous drug combinations, ensuring pain is managed safely before and after the first dose.
The program contains pre-dispense, concurrent and retrospective measures, such as:
“We firmly believe that by reducing the number of opioids in the hands of a new patient right from the start, we can significantly decrease the possibility of dependence and addiction,” said Sheehy. “While opioid use can have positive results for pain management, we have a responsibility to protect our members by addressing pain in an appropriate way and better educating patients about the risks accompanying opioids."
“As our nation endures a health crisis around opioid dependency, we are in a unique position to change the way opioids are used by our members,” said Frank Sheehy, CEO of pharmacy services and healthcare company EnvisionRxOptions. “Prescription fill limits and monitoring as a part of our pain management program will help minimize the risk of opioid addiction, especially for those patients who are being prescribed opioids for the first time.”
The EnvisionCare Pain Management program now includes pre-emptive prescription strategies, such as limiting first-time fills to seven days, prior authorizations on certain medications and shortened windows to refill prescriptions. This program aligns with the healthcare company’s overall pain management strategy, as well as the guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
EnvisionCare Pain Management, which includes an opt-out feature for clients not wishing to implement this program, focuses on patient safety through communication, education and outreach, as well as interventions that avoid excessive dosing and dangerous drug combinations, ensuring pain is managed safely before and after the first dose.
The program contains pre-dispense, concurrent and retrospective measures, such as:
- Clinically focused safeguards, like a seven-day limit on prescriptions for patients who have not used an opioid in the past three months, step therapy for extended-release opioids and prior authorization for extremely high dosages (greater than 200 Morphine Milligram Equivalents (MME)).
- Safer dispensing practices, including real-time drug utilization reviews at the pharmacy to promote proper dispensing and point-of-sale alerts for excessively high dosages or those who have been prescribed dangerous drug combinations.
- Supplemental, detailed reviews, in addition to those the pharmacist performs at the time of dispense, to identify patients who may be filling high dosage opioids, and/or receiving prescriptions from multiple prescribers and dispensers. These reviews, paired with a shortened refill window requiring patients to have exhausted 85 percent of their medication supply before a refill will be dispensed, help identify dangerous long-term utilization and members who may be in need of intervention.
“We firmly believe that by reducing the number of opioids in the hands of a new patient right from the start, we can significantly decrease the possibility of dependence and addiction,” said Sheehy. “While opioid use can have positive results for pain management, we have a responsibility to protect our members by addressing pain in an appropriate way and better educating patients about the risks accompanying opioids."