Opioid use and misuse is a well-established public health problem in the United States. Overprescribing of opioids for acute pain is an important contributor in the transition to chronic opioid use and associated dependence, disability, morbidity, and death. Workers’ compensation (WC) patients are vulnerable to these risks because of a high rate of opioid prescribing after an injury. In response, some insurers have established opioid review programs (ORPs) to monitor the prescribing and use of opioids. Little is known about how these programs compare in terms of their impact on opioid prescribing after an injury or how they are viewed by patients and health care professionals (HCPs) as part of a larger policy environment. The Washington and Ohio Worker Study compared the effectiveness of 2 such ORPs with regard to unsafe opioid prescribing and patient-centered outcomes in injured workers.
