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July 2018
Battling the opioid epidemic: A roundup of news and information
 Campaign created to raise awareness of prescription drug abuse
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, the Michigan Health & Hospital Association, Michigan Osteopathic Association, the Michigan Open Prescribing Engagement Network and the Michigan State Medical Society recently teamed up to announce the “Be Rx SAFE” opioid awareness campaign. The campaign was created to raise awareness about the dangers of prescription drug abuse and overuse and encourage prescribers and patients to do their part in addressing the opioid crisis.
To learn more, read the MI Blues Perspective blog.
NIH doubles funding to develop scientific solutions to opioid crisis
At the 2018 National Rx Drug Abuse and Heroin Summit in April, the National Institutes of Health announced the launch of the Helping to End Addiction Long-term Initiative, or HEAL. As part of its effort to speed scientific solutions to stem the national opioid public health crisis, NIH is nearly doubling funding for research on opioid misuse, addiction and pain — from approximately $600 million in 2016 to $1.1 billion in 2018. The initiative has two main objectives: preventing addiction through enhanced pain management and improving treatments for opioid misuse disorder and addiction.
More information is available in the NIH news release.
New opioid treatment program tested for BCN members
A new clinical pilot program will test a comprehensive treatment model that Dr. William Beecroft, medical director for Blue Care Network, hopes will yield better results for members struggling with addiction. The program is called CLIMB, which stands for Community-based Life-changing Individualized Medically-assisted evidence-Based treatment program. It kicked off May 1 for 250 BCN and BCN AdvantageSM members. The 12-month pilot project will serve members at Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services near Grand Rapids and at the Henry Ford Maplegrove Center in Bloomfield Hills.
Click here for more information.
Blue Cross, Walgreens team up to promote safe medication disposal
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Walgreens have joined forces to make it easy and safe to dispose of unwanted medications with year-round medication disposal kiosks at 20 Walgreens pharmacies across the state. This is a convenient way to dispose of unused medications, including opioids and other controlled substances, and ensure they don’t fall into the wrong hands. The kiosks at select Walgreens pharmacies are available during regular pharmacy hours. The program began in 2016 and was recently expanded to include additional stores nationwide.
For more information and a list of the Walgreens kiosk locations in Michigan, see the May issue of Value Partnerships Update.
New online resource available to help curb opioid epidemic
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan recently developed a website, mibluesperspectives.com/opioids101, to educate our members and the general public about the opioid epidemic, show what Blue Cross and its participating health care providers have done to tackle the problem, what we plan to do going forward and how the community can help. This easy-to-use website includes a wealth of resources that can be shared with patients and family members.
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