Increase Access to Non-Pharma Therapies

 

Introductory Paragraph

There are many benefits of using alternative therapies, also known as Non-Pharmacologic Pain Care (NPPC), and evidence is growing that this is a promising approach in addressing the opioid crisis. There are three avenues for increasing the use of NPCC alternatives. One pathway is for the medical community to promote alternatives that have been verified as effective. The second is for the public to begin to advocate for increased use of NPCC. The third and most powerful leverage point lies with changing the insurance standards that provide reimbursement for NPCC.

Key Information

Currently, most insurance plans do not cover most NPPC therapies. Working with insurance companies to cover more alternative and complementary pain therapeutic services can decrease opioid prescriptions for pain. Preventing patients from having opiates introduced into their bodies is one of the most effective ways to reduce the number of people who try an opiate. Using alternate therapies can also prevent unpleasant adverse effects of opiates, such as nausea and vomiting. Often, people using opiates also use marijuana or other illicit substances to treat their nausea, producing a cycle of dependency which makes treatment harder. In today’s society, patients often have complicated medical histories and multiple medications. Considering alternative and complementary therapies can help them avoid adverse drug reactions and preserve their health. For example, this would decrease stress on both the liver which metabolizes the drug and detoxifies the body and the kidney which excretes the drug. NPPC therapies have less toll on the body, can help patients stay healthier, and improve their quality of life.

Complementary Health Approaches

• Acupuncture
• Chiropractic Care and Spinal Manipulation
• Massage Therapy
• Stretching and Fitness Techniques to Minimize Pain
• Mindfulness and meditation-based therapies
• Tai Chi and Qi Gong
• Yoga
• Biofeedback
• Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, or TENS.

Benefits of Active Self-Care Therapies

In contrast to medication-based therapies, many NPPC strategies involve significant patient participation and a commitment to self-care. NPCC strategies tend to increase self-efficacy in managing pain and correlate with improved mood and outcomes in many chronic conditions, including pain. For example, the military has studied “active self-care therapies” as a category of pain management that may be of value in an integrated, multi-modal approach.

Attorneys general (AGs) from 37 states have let the insurance industry know that the fight against the nation's opioid crisis won't be won unless health care providers are encouraged to prioritize nonopioid pain management options, including physical therapy, over opioid prescriptions for the treatment of chronic, noncancer pain.
Brandeis University Professor Dr. Andrew Kolodny said efforts to limit opioid prescribing in recent years have been positive steps but warns that there are about 10 million to 12 million patients in the U.S. who have been on painkillers for years and need alternative therapies to offset the potential damage that could be caused by being cut off cold turkey.

Education for Future Doctors

When future doctors go through school, there seems to be very limited education detailing pain and pain management. Pain curricula in medical school education for both MDs and DOs in the U.S. ranges from 1-31 hours during the 3-4 year curriculum, with a mean of 11.13 hours. Thus, the current training system has left primary care practitioners with inadequate tools to deal with some of the most common problems doctors will come across during their years of practice. Any meaningful effort to improve pain management will require a basic culture shift in the nation’s approach to mandating pain-related education for all health professionals who provide care to people with pain.

One possible solution is cross-training between fields. Many, if not most, pain clinics are still housed in anesthesiology clinics, but fellowship pain training can now be pursued not only by anesthesiologists but other specialists in neurology/psychiatry, PM&R, and internal and family medicine. Physicians who receive fellowship training in pain care learn interventional pain strategies that originated in regional anesthesia and acute pain care, including non-pharmacological options. The expansion of these strategies, which are the mainstay of anesthesiology and acute pain practices, to chronic pain care have had more modest success in carefully selected patients.

Relevant Research

This paper examines the effectiveness of NPPC therapies. It includes acupuncture therapy, massage therapy, osteopathic and chiropractic manipulation, mind-body behavioral interventions, diet, self-efficacy strategies, and meditative movement therapies such as Tai Chi and yoga.

This article is based upon interviews with eight groups of patients, nurses and primary care providers to identify barriers and successes in the use of NPPC treatments in chronic pain.

Impactful Federal, State, and Local Policies

Federal policy has not been developed to coordinate care across disciplines and to increase access to nonpharmacologic care. Improving state and territorial to state and territorial systems could help reduce opioid use. There are a few state Medicaid policy initiatives aimed at increasing access to effective nonpharmacologic therapies as a first-line treatment option for pain conditions. See Promising Practices section below.

Available Tools and Resources

The Joint Commission works with over 20,000 healthcare organizations in more than 70 countries. It has published a 2-page fact sheet titled "Non-pharmacologic and non-opioid solutions for pain management." The Joint Commission has also published "Pain Assessment and Management Standards for Hospitals" which has guidance on leadership, performance improvement, medical staff, and provision of care, treatment, and services.

MyStrength helps fill the gap between generalized pain management and prescription opioid use through education, encouragement, and evidence-based pain management tools. MyStrength, Inc. is a recognized leader and one of the fastest-growing digital behavioral health companies in the US. MyStrength enhances traditional care models while addressing issues of cost, lack of access, and stigma in order to deliver mental health and well-being resources at scale. The platform targets the most prevalent and costly behavioral health conditions, empowering consumers with innovative self-care resources to manage and overcome challenges with depression, anxiety, substance use disorders, and chronic pain. MyStrength collaborates with over 100 health plans, community behavioral health centers, integrated health systems, and accountable care organizations.

Promising Practices

The Oregon Health Plan (OHP) is the state's Medicaid program. It covers acupuncture therapy, chiropractic and osteopathic manipulation, physical therapy, and cognitive behavioral therapy for all back conditions.

Vermont has piloted a program to cover acupuncture therapy for back pain in a Medicaid population and monitor health outcomes and cost-effectiveness.

Minnesota. The Little Falls Program to Reduce Opioid Prescriptions for Pain launched when doctors organized a response to the increasing number of opioid prescriptions and drug-related arrests. They worked with community partners in schools, local health departments, law enforcement, and health alliances to increase addiction treatment options and to monitor prescriptions. They were able to wean 324 patients off opioids entirely and lower prescriptions of opioids from 48,000 a month to 37,000. Patients must sign a contract when they are prescribed opioids that allows for electronic monitoring of their medical records to look for patterns of abuse. Law enforcement alerts doctors if opioids they prescribed are found in possession of someone other than their patient. Rather than punish patients caught selling and abusing opioids, they are given access to Suboxone and to a support team which including a nurse and a mental health specialist. Although the program started off as an abstinence-based program, opioid fatalities led the doctors to changed to a medically-assisted program. This program has gained national attention of national policymakers. Minnesota State Representative Ron Kresha authored a bill designed to help more Minnesota communities develop opioid abuse prevention programs based on the program in Little FallsThe aim is to establish and fund opioid abuse prevention pilot projects throughout the state. Each pilot project has a multidisciplinary controlled substance care team to:

• deliver health care services and care coordination to reduce inappropriate use of opioids
• address any unmet social service needs that create barriers to managing pain effectively and obtain optimal health outcomes
• provide prescriber and dispenser education
• promote best practices related to opioid disposal
• engage community partners outside the health care system in such efforts.