Ameritox Joins with Progressive Medical in Urine Drug Monitoring Network to Help Improve Care of Injured Workers

BALTIMORE, May 23, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Ameritox, the nation's leader in pain medication monitoring, has been selected by Progressive Medical, Inc. to become part of its Urine Drug Monitoring (UDM) network to help clients manage pharmacy costs and improve the clinical outcomes for injured workers.

Progressive Medical, a leading pharmacy benefit manager in the workers' compensation industry, has used UDM in its overall medication compliance and pain management strategy for several years. By establishing a comprehensive UDM provider network, the company believes it will gain greater insights into prescription medication use and help its clients achieve better control of the cost of screenings and receive consistent reporting of results.

A key advantage to Progressive Medical's program is its ability to identify claimants who may benefit from drug monitoring and if warranted, integrate them into the most appropriate clinical intervention program to achieve the best possible outcome.  

"Urine drug monitoring is an invaluable tool to assist the physician in determining whether injured workers are taking their medications or not, which is important from a compliance and safety standpoint," said Tron Emptage, chief clinical officer of Progressive Medical. "Our Urine Drug Monitoring Program is designed to provide our clients with standardized, easy-to-understand reports that contain actionable clinical recommendations to help get their injured workers back on the road to recovery, help manage overall claim costs and keep the claim on track."  

Ameritox, which helped pioneer pain medication monitoring,  published a study in 2011 called "Healthcare Costs and Nonadherence Among Chronic Opioid Users" that concluded that patients being treated for chronic pain with opioid therapy generated much higher healthcare costs than patients not being treated with prescription painkillers.

"Conducting medication monitoring can give both clinicians and those paying for the treatment better information regarding how medication is possibly being used," said Ameritox Vice President, Medical Affairs, Kathryn Bronstein, PhD, RN. "Monitoring can also be an important, tool to help clinicians prevent the human tragedy that can stem from the misuse, abuse or diversion of powerful painkillers."

About Progressive Medical, Inc.

Progressive Medical is a leading workers' compensation pharmacy benefit manager. The company's ability to capture up to 98% of retail prescriptions in network at the pharmacy point of sale gives clients more control over pharmacy-related claims expense. More control facilitates a deeper understanding as we use a patent-pending multivariate statistical model to guide our clinical decisions. With more information, claims professionals and clinicians are better positioned to influence the claim sooner. The result is hard dollar savings, diminished out-of-network hassles and shorter claim duration – a delivered promise. Visit www.progressive-medical.com to learn more.

About Ameritox      

Ameritox is the nation's leader in Pain Medication Monitoring Solutions^SM, offering specialized laboratory testing and reporting services. Ameritox's expertise and innovative science provide physicians with the information and support they need to enhance and optimize the care of chronic pain patients. Monitoring through prescription drug testing can help physicians make more informed clinical decisions while also helping to reduce the possible risk of misuse, abuse or diversion of powerful medications. Ameritox is headquartered in Baltimore, Md. with laboratory facilities in Midland, Texas and Greensboro, N.C. Ameritox can be found online at www.ameritox.com, on Twitter @Ameritox, on Facebook at facebook.com/ameritox, and on YouTube at www.youtube.com/ameritox.

© 2013 Ameritox Ltd. All rights reserved. Ameritox, Ameritox-Medication Monitoring Solutions, Rx Guardian, Rx Guardian INSIGHT and Rx Guardian CD are trademarks of Ameritox. Other trademarks are the property of their owners.

SOURCE Ameritox