Pain Management
Opioid Addiction and Overdose Medication
At Florida Blue, we are driven to help people and communities achieve better health. We are committed to the safety of our members and ensuring our providers have easy access to valuable information regarding the opioid crisis to assist patients at risk for opioid misuse or overdose.
Devastating consequences of the opioid epidemic continue to increase, including opioid addiction and overdoses. An estimated 40% of opioid overdose deaths involve a prescribed opioid1. Naloxone, a life-saving medication, is available and recommended to be given to individuals at high risk for – or suspected of – experiencing an opioid overdose2.
In response to the opioid crisis, we have curated helpful resources and guidelines for Florida Blue providers. This useful information may help educate your patients regarding pain management, use and misuse of opioids, and even life-saving medications they will want to keep accessible, if needed.
In this new section below you will find links to several resources you can access regularly. Please be sure to visit frequently as we will continue to update the information with new resources and recommendations you can use.
Please keep in mind, medical knowledge is always evolving. It is important to monitor emerging evidence, quality, affordability, patient preferences, and individual professional association clinical guidelines when formulating a treatment plan.
The following resources and tools are available to assist clinicians in managing pain:
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Resource Links:
- Healthcare Providers | Opioids | CDC (external site)
- Shatterproof | Reversing the Addiction Crisis in the U.S. (external site)
- Prescribe to Prevent – Prescribe Naloxone, Save a Life (external site)
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Educational Tools:
Please note, more up-to-date PDFs may be found on the original sources' website.
Starting the Conversation with Your Patients
- Naloxone Training | Naloxone | Opioids | CDC (external site)
- Talking About Naloxone with Patients Prescribed Opioids, Conversation Starter for Clinicians (PDF)
- Talking to Patients About Life-Threatening, Accidental Opioid Overdose Emergencies (PDF)
What is Naloxone?
- NIH Drug Facts: What is Naloxone? (PDF)
- What You Need to Know About Naloxone, CDC Fact Sheet for Family and Caregivers (PDF)
Who Gets Naloxone?
- Naloxone: The Opioid Reversal Drug that Saves Lives, HHS (PDF)
- Calculating Total Daily Dosage of Opioids for Safer Dosage, CDC (PDF)
- When to Offer Naloxone to Patients, CDC Fact Sheet for Clinicians (PDF)
How is Naloxone Used?
- Opioid Safety and How to Use Naloxone, A Guide for Patients and Caregivers, SF Dept. of Public Health (PDF)
- First Responders Can Safely Administer Naloxone during COVID-19 Pandemic, HHS (PDF)
- How and When to Use Naloxone for an Opioid Overdose, CDC Fact Sheet for Family and Caregivers (PDF)
Financial Resources
- Free naloxone | Everyone Campaign (projectopioidcfl.org) (external site)
- Find naloxone - I Save Florida (external site)
Visit Prescribe to Prevent for the latest Opioid Product Comparison Chart (external site)
1 About the Epidemic | HHS.gov
2 Naloxone Drug Facts | National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) (nih.gov)