3F324F85002008DC872584320069862C Hearing Summary

Ronne Hines, Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies, discussed the provision established in Senate Bill 19-228 that requires medical professionals to complete continuing education on the safe prescribing of opioids prior to license renewal and distributed a handout (Attachment F).  She discussed the timeline associated with rule promulgation and responded to questions.

Dr. Valuck discussed best practices for providing pain management and treatment and made recommendations about the development of competency standards for health care providers offering pain management treatment.

Dr. Debra Parsons, Colorado Medical Society, spoke about physician prescribing rates for opioids, the recent decline in opioid prescriptions, and the increased number of PDMP queries.  She discussed the new continuing education requirement for medical provider licensure renewal. She discussed the Colorado CURE Initiative, which focuses on developing guidelines targeted towards limiting opioid use; using alternatives to opioids for the treatment of pain; implementing harm reduction strategies; and improving the treatment and referral of patients with Opioid Use Disorder.  Dr. Parsons responded to questions. Committee discussion followed about the role of pharmaceutical companies in the high rate of prescribing opioids.

Dr. Jonathan Clapp, Colorado Pain Society, discussed the number of deaths related to opioid use and distributed a handout to the committee (Attachment G).  He explained that access to opioids and insurance coverage for opioids make it easier for physicians to prescribe opioids for pain than other types of more costly treatments.  He told the committee that insurance companies often require doctors to use opioids to treat pain before trying safer alternatives to opioids.  Dr. Clapp discussed the practice of requiring preauthorization for alternative pain treatments and responded to questions.