Health insurer Cigna is launching an initiative to decrease by 25 percent drug overdoses in communities that have been affected by the opioid epidemic, The Hill reported.
The initiative’s goal is to hit the 25-percent number by 2021 in Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey, Virginia, and metropolitan areas in Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C., the report said.
Cigna chose areas with higher than average rates of drug overdoses. “Despite all the efforts that we’ve made and the success we’ve had in improving the appropriateness of opioid prescribing that there’s still a huge issue in all of our communities with opioid overdoses,” said Dr. Doug Nemecek, the company’s chief medical officer for behavioral health, The Hill reported.
The insurer plans to use analytics to show customers at the highest risk of an opioid overdose, and construct partnerships in those areas, Nemecek said.
In March, Cigna announced that it had reduced the amount of opioids that its customers use by 25 percent, The Hill reported on March 28.
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