Kaiser Program Aims To Cut Prescribing Rates for Opioids, Brand-Name Painkillers

Kaiser Permanente's Southern California division has cut high-volume opioid prescriptions by 91% since it launched its Safe and Appropriate Opioid Prescribing Program in 2011. Further, Kaiser's program has helped boost prescriptions for generic painkillers over higher-cost brand-name drugs, transitioning its patients to the lower-cost alternative drugs 95% of the time.

• "Kaiser Reduces Potential Opioid Abuse" (Shinkman, Payers & Providers, 4/2).