About 12 years ago, Joe Paduda and I were looking for ways to promote his work comp managed care consulting practice and we decided he would conduct a survey and we’d publicize the results.  He chose pharmacy benefit management for the topic.

Hard as it is to believe, pharmacy costs in comp weren’t that big of a deal at the time.  Partly because to the survey, the industry began to recognize pharmacy as a huge cost driver and create programs to control the costs.  Around 2005, survey respondents started noticing opioids and soon there were programs to identify at-risk claimants and help addicted injured employees wean off inappropriate doses of these drugs.

One way to be recognized as a thought leader is to actually be one.  Researching a topic until you’re intimately aware of all its nuances and impacts, writing about it and speaking about it makes you an expert.

This survey was instrumental in launching Joe as a thought leader in the world of workers’ compensation pharmacy.  Since its inception, he has consulted with numerous clients on pharmacy issues and he regularly speaks at conferences and gives media interviews on related topics.

More importantly, the survey raised awareness of a problem and the industry responded with sophisticated programs, including opioid management initiatives.  Who knows, perhaps the survey has even saved some lives.