Department Wants Questionnaire From Opioid Care Applicants

Thursday, May 24, 2018 | 0

The Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents has produced a questionnaire for prospective opioid care coordinators to complete and help in the selection process.

It's part of the department's pilot program designed to take a more hands-on approach to preventing addiction among injured workers. The program targets workers who have settled claims but are still taking opioids, and assists insurers that want to stop paying for the drugs.

Both parties have to volunteer, which sends them straight to mediation and bypasses court proceedings that often last a year. The workers are matched with care coordinators, also called nurse case managers, who develop individualized treatment plans aimed at weaning workers off painkillers.

Insurers pay the care coordinator and for the treatment, and care coordinators cannot be called as witnesses in a hearing. 

Applicants are asked to submit a resume and complete the questionnaire, to give the department insight into how the case manager has handled previous cases.

Information is available at the department's website, and resumes can be sent to Melissa.Crosby@massmail.state.ma.us.