UnitedHealthcare has expanded its efforts to help address the connection between dental care and the opioid epidemic, introducing a public toolkit with information to help support oral health care professionals and patients, especially after wisdom-teeth removal for teens and young adults.
The toolkit - available here https://newsroom.uhc.com/opioids/opioid-oral-health-toolkit.html - provides information for oral health professionals and all consumers, including an educational flyer with commonly asked questions related to opioids and a checklist to help people better understand pain-management options before and after wisdom-teeth removal.
The toolkit builds upon a companywide approach to address the epidemic from all angles, including dental care. This comprehensive approach includes a pharmacy policy, outreach to dental health professionals and plan participants, along with TV and radio public service announcements (PSAs).
Taken together, these efforts to date have resulted in an 89% reduction in opioid prescriptions above federal guidelines written by network dental health professionals for UnitedHealthcare dental plan participants age 19 and under.1
"Confronting the opioid epidemic requires a comprehensive approach involving multiple stakeholders across the health care system, including addressing the often overlooked connection with dental care," said
The opioid epidemic causes more than 130 overdose deaths2 each day, while the economic cost exceeds
UnitedHealthcare's comprehensive approach to combatting opioid use related to dental care also includes:
- Pharmacy Policy: The policy change - enacted in late 2018 - capped at three days and fewer than 50 morphine milligram equivalents per day for all first-time opioid prescriptions written by UnitedHealthcare network dental health professionals for people age 19 and under, as recommended by the
- Dental Health Professionals: Network dental health professionals identified as consistently prescribing opioids above
Dental Plan Participants:Nearly 72,000 UnitedHealthcare dental plan participants with dependents ages 16 to 22 received information by e-mail about the risks associated with opioids, specifically in connection with wisdom-tooth extractions. More than two-thirds (70%) of wisdom-tooth extractions for people ages 16 to 22 result in at least one opioid prescription,3 so providing this information is designed to help parents and young people better identify pain management alternatives and strategies to manage the frequency of use, dosage and proper disposal of unused opioids. A recent study from
Public Service Announcements (PSAs):TV and radio PSAs - in collaboration with Shatterproof, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to reversing the addiction crisis in
UnitedHealthcare, a
Learn more about what UnitedHealthcare is doing to address the opioid epidemic. About UnitedHealthcare
UnitedHealthcare is dedicated to helping people live healthier lives and making the health system work better for everyone by simplifying the health care experience, meeting consumer health and wellness needs, and sustaining trusted relationships with care providers. In
1 UnitedHealthcare pharmacy claims analysis, 2019
2 2
3 UnitedHealthcare pharmacy claims analysis representing more than 3 million claims, 2019
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