Studies have shown that the prevalence of prescription opioid abuse has risen dramatically in the past several years. In 2004, the number of Americans reporting abuse of prescription medications was higher than the combined total of those reporting abuse of cocaine, hallucinogens, inhalants, and heroin, and direct healthcare costs for opioid abusers are approximately eight times higher than those of nonabusers, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health.
Congress intended to increase the number of people willing to seek and adhere to treatment by integrating opioid treatment into the mainstream medical setting by passing the Drug Addiction Treatment Act of 2000. The law provides a way for physicians to integrate treatment of opioid dependence into general outpatient medicine. Buprenorphine, an orally administered medication marketed by Reckitt Benckiser Pharmaceuticals, Inc., under the brand names Suboxone and Subutex, was approved by the FDA in 2002 for opioid dependence treatment, and it can be prescribed and monitored on an outpatient basis with the medication taken in the privacy of a patient's home.
Yet following completion of a 2006 review, CIGNA Behavioral Health (CBH) found very little utilization of buprenorphine for long-term maintenance treatment, and CBH struggled with finding available providers to manage this treatment when a member required or requested it. Thus, CBH set out to understand the barriers and to find solutions that would improve access to and availability of outpatient buprenorphine treatment for opioid dependence.
In 2003, CBH changed from being a traditional behavioral utilization management company to an operational foundation grounded with a philosophy of care advocacy. CBH's care advocacy philosophy means it supports evidence-based treatments, as well as working to eliminate barriers to access and improving outreach, education, and support to help engage members in effective …
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