Pittston City Council members approve buyout program for flood damaged properties

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Aaron Kaufer touts issues not party politics at Global Landscapes Conference

<p>A loophole in the Affordable Care Act might inadvertently provide an incentive for doctors to over-prescribe narcotics to hospital patients, according to U.S. Senator Pat Toomey.</p><p>Toomey said, according to a federal initiative meant to reward quality care, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is allocating over $1 billion in funding based upon response from patient satisfaction surveys.</p><p>He questioned the wisdom of a question on the survey which reads, &#8220;During this hospital stay, how often did hospital staff do everything they could to help you with your pain?&#8221;</p><p>Toomey said the inquiry means a patient&#8217;s assessment of pain management is now linked to profitability.</p><p>&#8220;No one should ever expect zero pain,&#8221; he said.</p><p>Jeanmarie Perrone, professor of emergency medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, who joined Toomey in a phone interview with reporters Wednesday, said insurances should safeguard recipients from over-using drugs.</p><p>For example, she said, physicians should be able to write prescriptions for half the amount of a standard prescription if that is all that is needed.</p><p>She said often physicians are reluctant to monitor and restrict opiate prescriptions because hospital administrators believe it would mean less funding in the long term.</p><p>Toomey, who has consistently supported legislation and public education about the dangers of the use of prescription and non-prescription opioids, said he will support a bill aimed at alleviating the pressure for doctors to over-prescribe opioids.</p><p>The legislation, proposed by Republican Sen. Ron Johnson, of Wisconsin, has bipartisan support and is aimed at alleviating the pressure on doctors to over-prescribe opioids.</p><p>Entitled the Promoting Responsible Opioid Prescribing (PROP) Act, the proposed legislation, which Toomey said is still in committee, will ensure pain management questions on patient surveys would not factor into Medicare reimbursement calculations.</p><p>According to the Medicare.gov website, the standardized survey is used to measure patients&#8217; perspectives of hospital care. Pain management is one of about 10 factors affecting a hospital&#8217;s score.</p><p>Following the phone interview, Toomey took to the floor of the Senate, emphasizing the importance of monitoring the prescribing of opioids, the use of those prescriptions and preventing diversion of those drugs to the street.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Toomey </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_Toomey-cmyk.jpg</photo0><caption0>Toomey </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Geri Gibbons</p><p>ggibbons@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p>According to the Center for Disease Control, more than 47,000 Americans died of a drug overdose in 2014, a record high, and more than 60% of those deaths involved an opioid. U.S. emergency rooms now treat more than 1,000 people every day for misuse of prescription opioids.</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Geri Gibbons at 570-991-6117 or on Twitter @TLGGibbons</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Patient surveys allegedly linked to increased use of opioids