No World Borders Announces Opioid and Pain Management Prescriber Audit Protocol

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., March 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- No World Borders, Inc. announced an opioid prescribing and pain management provider audit protocol to assist state and federal agencies and prescribers in detecting drug diversion and drug-seeking behavior.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been reported by Kaiser Family Foundation that 53%^[1] of Americans have been impacted by behavioral health systems, including substance use disorder.

Michael F. Arrigo, C.E.O. of No World Borders, said, "In general, the goal of the audit protocol is to determine using a combination of healthcare claims, prescribing analytics, and patient clinical documentation that the type, dosage, and supply of pain medication is medically necessary and meets specific State and Federal guidelines.  The pain management practice should demonstrate that it has both processes and clinical evidence to support medically necessary care and to provide for processes when patients do not meet guidelines or medical necessity."

The practice should have a method to match data about a patient with data about prescriptions.  This may be done by using selected portions of the Audit Protocol.  

For example:

1. What reporting systems and processes does the practice use, both for issuing data and receiving and analyzing data about patients?
2. Does the physician have a method of aligning the conditions of a new patient as presented, the State prescribing database history of prior pain medication use, patient drug testing reports from current use under the care of the physician, and the prescribing trends?
3. Does the practice have an overall process for interventions when the data does not support medical necessity or drug-seeking behavior for a patient?

Audit Protocol Development Methodology

This Audit Protocol was developed from Federal and State Standards, clinicians, and experts.  It is used to provide a universal framework with defensible criteria that can support or find gaps in provider prescribing of controlled substances. 

About Michael F Arrigo

Michael F. Arrigo serves and an expert regarding prescribers regulated under the Controlled Substances Act, drug diversion, and State Prescribing Rules pertaining to Schedule II controlled substances (hydromorphone (Dilaudid®), methadone (Dolophine®), meperidine (Demerol®), oxycodone (OxyContin®, Percocet®), and fentanyl (Sublimaze®, Duragesic®), morphine, opium, codeine, and hydrocodone).  He has been retained as an expert to perform audits of pain management physicians, patient records, and electronic health records in DEA investigations and by plaintiffs in opioid litigation.  Clients include federal agencies, attorneys for patient plaintiffs, and hospital and physician defendants.

About No World Borders

No World Borders was founded in 2000.  The company has a group of experts and technology focused on solving complex problems related to healthcare data, regulations, and economics and has offices throughout the U.S. The company news coverage hand examples of client success stories are listed on its website.

^[1] Kaiser Family Foundation.  How the COVID-19 Pandemic is Affecting People's Mental Health and Substance Use. "People experiencing job or income losses are at higher risk for mental health problems. Adults in households that experienced job losses or reduced incomes report higher rates of mental health symptoms than other households (53% vs. 32%)."  See https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/press-release/how-the-covid-19-pandemic-is-affecting-peoples-mental-health-and-substance-use/

SOURCE No World Borders, Inc.