Helping Physicians & Patients Survive the Opioid Crisis
- Kathryn Sorg, Office Administrator
- Mar 15, 2018
- 2 min read
The United States Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) reports that drug overdose is the leading cause of death in the United States. Of the one-hundred forty (140) Americans dying each day, ninety-one (91) are specifically due to opioids. One of many responses has been from a legislative perspective which proposes a maximum number of days for the first opioid prescription, while other States are proposing a possible maximum milligram per day. The ability to track and monitor patient opioid prescriptions is integral to the success of minimizing the opioid epidemic.
In Leonta Williams’ and Kim Rogers’ article “Help Combat the Opioid Crisis by following Guidelines and State Rules”[1], they call for better coding and documentation to help raise red flags when abuse is present. One way of doing this that they discuss is the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP). This allows statewide access to a database which contains the history of all controlled substances ever given to an individual. This enables clinicians and pharmacists to see a patient’s prescription history to identify use, misuse or abuse. The article states, “a survey of US physicians published in 2015, found only 53% of doctors use this program, while 22% were not even aware these programs were available”.
In addition, Ms. Williams also helps us to understand the hierarchy of coding when patients exhibit use, abuse and dependency of same substance, (e.g., alcohol, opioid, etc.). There are new updated codes added to 2018 ICD-10-CM coding for opioid abuse, in remission, (F11.11) and opioid abuse with opioid-induced psychotic disorder with hallucinations, (F11.151).
In conclusion, clinicians and coders working together will continue to play a significant role on the front lines of the battle field in the opioid epidemic.
[1] Help Combat the Opioid Crisis by Following Guidelines and State Rules, published in Healthcare Business Monthly, February 2017, by Leonta Williams and Kim Julien Rogers.
https://www.aapc.com/blog/40844-help-combat-the-opioid-crisis-by-following-guidelines-and-state-rules/