Michigan-OPEN and MSQC team up for success in general surgery

A statewide effort to combat the opioid epidemic resulted in surgeons cutting opioid prescription size by nearly a third without increasing patients’ pain or decreasing their satisfaction.

This was accomplished thanks to the Michigan Surgical Quality Collaborative and Michigan Opioid Prescribing Engagement Network, two initiatives sponsored by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan through its Value Partnerships program.

In one year, the number of opioid pills for patients discharged after surgery from 43 participating Michigan hospitals dropped from an average of 26 per patient to an average of 18, according to a University of Michigan news release.
The surgeries involved in the research are:

Laparoscopic gall bladder removal
Appendectomy
Minor hernia repair
Open ventral/incisional hernia repair
Laparoscopic or open colectomy
Vaginal, abdominal or minimally invasive hysterectomy

Patients also reported they took an average of half the opioids prescribed to them without increasing their pain or incurring any increase in surgery-related complications. Researchers suggested that pre-surgery counseling about pain expectations and non-opioid pain control options made a big difference.

“We are really encouraged by the study’s results, and we’re further encouraged by preliminary results showing the number of opioid pills dropped even further than was reported in the New England Journal of Medicine article that was cited in the news release,” said David Bye II, manager, Clinical Program Development, Value Partnerships. “When this program started, the number of opioid pills being prescribed averaged 36 per patient and now patients are receiving just 10 pills for all of the general surgeries monitored by the surgical quality initiative.”

Bye coordinates Blue Cross' participation in M-OPEN, along with all other opioid-reducing efforts in place across the Value Partnerships portfolio of initiatives.

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