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Windham Group Receives First Case in Massachusetts's Alternate Opioid Treatment Pathway ProgramWindham Group, a leading workers' compensation case management company, has received the first case in Massachusetts's Alternate Opioid Treatment Pathway (OATP) program. The state's Department of Industrial Accidents (DIA) recently launched a two-year pilot program that assigns a care coordinator to mediate pain management treatment between an injured worker and the insurance company covering medical care for work-related injuries. The DIA selects care managers based on their experience with chronic pain management in workers' compensation, especially in cases involving more than 100 morphine milligram equivalents per day. Windham Group's Director of Specialty Services Mike Pringle, MPA, RN, CCM (News - Alert), who has helped injured workers taper off opioids for over four years, is managing the first case. "The goal is to help the injured employee learn how to control pain with non-opioid methods, such as acupuncture, cognitive behavioral therapy, and mindfulness meditation so they can eliminate or significantly reduce the amount of narcotic pain medication they use," Pringle said.
"Care managers help educate injured workers about medications and side effects and coach them through the process of tapering narcotics with their treating physicians," Pringle said. "We help find the combination of non-opiate pain management interventions that work best for them and show them how to live with pain without being controlled by it." About Windham Group Manchester, New Hampshire-based Windham Group provides medical case management services and return-to-work solutions for the workers' compensation and disability insurance industries. Windham's collaborative approach promotes healing at work, using a unique strategy of medical management, work environment analysis and volunteerism. This model helps customers bring even the most challenging cases to closure. Windham Group also provides experts in vocational case management, utilization review, pharmacy review, and medical cost projections. For more information, see www.windhamgroup.com or call 800-898-0386.
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