PRIUM’s Mark Pew Discusses Opioid Management at the Industrial Commission of Arizona’s Claims Seminar

Phoenix, Ariz. (Aug. 5, 2014) – Mark Pew, senior vice president of PRIUM, a medical intervention company focused on managing pharmacy use in workers’ compensation, will present “Best Practices in Opioid Management” at the Industrial Commission of Arizona’s Annual Claims Seminar in August.

Speaking at 9:15 a.m. on August 15, Pew will review appropriate and inappropriate uses for opioids and other prescription drugs along with their possible side effects. He will also describe issues surrounding polypharmacy, which is the use of too many, inappropriate or redundant drugs, and the difficulty of tapering chronic pain patients from polypharmacy regimens involving multiple drug classifications.

“Polypharmacy is a significant problem in chronic pain treatment. You’ll often see five or more prescription drugs from different classifications in a drug regimen, and there are not many credible medical guidelines for tapering these patients off these drugs,” said Pew, who wrote a white paper on the topic with Kimberly Vernachio, PharmD, RPh. The paper is available at www.prium.com/resources/thought-leadership.

“Restoring function with fewer drugs is more art than science and requires addressing the patient’s psychosocial issues as well as the physiological and pharmacological factors,” he added.

The session is part of the Industrial Commission of Arizona’s Claims Seminar being held Aug. 14-15 at the Wigwam Golf Resort & Spa in Litchfield Park, Arizona.

About PRIUM
An Ameritox solutions provider, PRIUM sets the industry standard for workers’ compensation medical interventions through its ability to secure higher agreement rates and to help ensure compliance with modified treatment plans. The hallmark of the medical intervention company’s success is a collaborative physician engagement process encompassing evidence-based medicine, clinical oversight, and jurisdictional guidelines to facilitate optimal financial and clinical outcomes. PRIUM helps eliminate unnecessary treatment through a comprehensive approach that includes complex medical interventions, utilization reviews, urine drug monitoring, and independent medical exams. Based in Duluth, Ga., PRIUM can be reached at prium.com or 888.588.4964.

Website: www.prium.com
Twitter: @PRIUM1 / @RxProfessor
Blog: www.priumevidencebased.com
linkedin.com/in/markpew

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Media Contact:  Helen Knight, King Knight Communications, 813-690-4787; helen@kingknight.com