HR leaders learn about prescription drug issues troubling the workforce.
Local HR leaders are briefed on ramifications and suggestions for dealing with the issue.
Jody Jernigan, the CEO of the Southeast Chapter of the National Safety Council, believes the opioid crisis that has been grabbing headlines across the nation should probably be referred to simply as the prescription pill epidemic, though opioids are certainly at the center of the problem. Rome area human resource officials got a briefing on the problem and some of its impacts on the workplace.
Organizers with the Greater Rome Society for Human Resource Management said the meeting at Hawthorn Suites was one of the most highly attended in years.
Jernigan told the group that hydrocodone was the No. 1 prescribed pill in Georgia. Oxycontin, tramadol and fentanyl are also among the most commonly prescribed painkillers.
“It’s a complicated issue with a lot of sides and a lot of moving parts to it,” Jernigan told the local HR leaders. “I guarantee if you haven’t been dealing with it you just aren’t aware of it yet or it’s coming your way.”
Part of the tragedy of getting hooked on prescription painkillers is that it frequently leads to a heroin problem, Jernigan said. He noted that heroin off the street is frequently cheaper than the prescription painkillers and the painkillers are cheaper than the cost of insurance co-pays for physical therapy to help relieve pain issues.
“It’s not a moral failing, it’s a medical condition,” Jernigan said. “It’s not like an illicit drug problem.” Most people get started with a legal prescription. “It’s a fairly quick addiction,” Jernigan said.
The human resource officials learned that for the first time since World War II, automobile wrecks are not the No. 1 cause of death. They have been replaced by overdoses of prescription medications.
“There are enough pills in the market for every resident of the United States to have a 30-day supply, that’s how many pills are out there,” Jernigan said.
Opioids replace receptors in the brain that change the way a person feels about pain, but doesn’t actually manage the pain. The problem, according to Jernigan, is that not so many years ago, physicians were rated and graded by how their patients responded to treatment so they began prescribing the heavy-duty painkillers in a bid to get positive feedback from their patients, many not realizing at the time exactly how addictive the medications were. Jernigan said a survey indicated that less than a third of physicians typically screened their patients for a family history of addiction to the potent painkillers.
“It can happen to anyone,” Jernigan said.
Centers for Disease Control guidelines typically call for the issuance of opioid prescriptions for no more than seven days, but Jernigan said statistics indicate that as many as 21 percent of prescriptions are written for at least 30 days. “I do believe this is going to be changing rapidly over the next few months and years for sure,” Jernigan said. He produced a chart that shows that a combination of 200 milligrams ibuprofen and 500 milligrams Tylenol used together actually manage pain better than anything else on the board. The perception among a large number of patients though is that they need something stronger for their pain.
The ramifications in the workforce range from high turnover to absenteeism to more on-the-job injuries to outright reductions in productivity. He said that in the past, employers have regarded the issue as a personal problem for their employees and not necessarily tied to the business itself.
Claudia Hamilton, executive director of Living Proof Recovery, suggested that every workplace be equipped with narcan, or naloxone, a drug used to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose. Jernigan said many workplaces teach their employees CPR or have Automated External Defibrillators and encouraged the HR executives to learn how to use the naloxone.
“It has a shelf life of about two years,” Jernigan said.
Employers were also urged to use panels for opioid addiction in the drug tests that are performed prior to an employee being hired, or in random drug tests that may be required in certain jobs. Jernigan said surveys have indicated that as many as 80 percent of employers felt like they could identify an employee with a pill addiction.
“I think that number is high,” Jernigan told the audience.
Rita Odom, human resources director for the Rome, said a factor that complicates dealing with prescription pill problems in the workplace is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, which safeguards patient information. She said that when a workman’s compensation claim is filed her office is able to track a situation, but if it’s not a workman’s comp claim, HIPAA makes it much more difficult to get detailed information.
“We have seen, or had suspicions, that some of our employees probably needed to go through some sort of pain management program,” Odom said. “One pill doesn’t work so they ask for a different kind of pill until they get up to the big one.”
Jernigan said there is still a stigma associated with treatment and recovery. “As employers we all have an opportunity to encourage others to seek appropriate treatment and care. That’s one of the things that I feel highly passionate about,” Jernigan said. “Until that stigma is removed, not many people are actually going to seek treatment and recovery.”
As many as 20 percent of employers who responded to a survey by the NSC indicate they almost immediately dismiss an employee after they are identified with a problem.
“That 20 percent contributes to the stigma of treatment and recovery,” Jernigan said.
“We’ve got to really think about what we’re offering employees in terms of pain management,” Jernigan concluded.