President of Hinge Health, a leading digital clinic for joint and muscle care.
Headlines concerning the opioid crisis and its impact on patients’ personal lives have captured national attention, and rightly so—opioid addiction ruins lives and has a compounding effect on communities. The number of deaths caused by an opioid drug overdose has increased over the years, devastating families, communities and the workforce, with over 75% of drug overdose deaths in 2021 involving an opioid, according to the CDC.
More than 263,000 Americans have lost their lives to overdoses involving prescription opioids over the past 20-plus years. And the areas where opioids are prescribed in higher amounts typically skew toward the uninsured, and those who have diabetes, arthritis or a disability. This crisis also undoubtedly affects people’s work lives. A survey from the National Safety Council found that 75% of employers feel their workforce has been impacted by opioid use—but only 17% feel prepared to deal with it.
While the opioid epidemic won’t be addressed by any one single solution, employers can provide pain care for their employees without relying on addictive medication. Digital care, which provides an effective and medication-free treatment option for those who suffer from chronic pain, is a solution recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a first-line therapy ahead of prescribing opioids.
Chronic Pain And The Workplace
The harsh reality is that half of Americans experience back, neck or joint pain. The type of pain and degree may vary by individual, but one commonality among sufferers is that it can impact their productivity at the workplace, and oftentimes be debilitating. Chronic pain further hinders performance for employees in most industries, including healthcare, manufacturing, government and those with work-from-home desk jobs.
Chronic pain affects an individual’s mental health, in addition to their work productivity. On average, 27% of people who have chronic pain will experience depression, compared to 5%-10% of those without chronic pain. We’ve found that people living with musculoskeletal (MSK) pain miss an average of 10.3 days of work, and those who also have mental health conditions miss an average of 14.4 days. That’s about two weeks of work missed because of treatable pain.
Employers need to think beyond the cost of healthcare treatment and consider ways an employee’s health conditions could impact their productivity and in turn, the company’s bottom line.
How Digital Care Helps
Digital care solutions offer a non-pharmacological approach to pain management, avoiding reliance on opioids and minimizing the risk of addiction. In fact, the Journal of Pain Research recently published a new Hinge Health study that shows participants in our digital exercise therapy program were 42% less likely to start opioids than those in traditional PT. Additionally, the study found that participants had 25% fewer opioid prescriptions than traditional PT patients after 12 months.
Traditional pain treatment is costing employers. More than 75% of employers say that musculoskeletal conditions rank among their top three cost drivers, according to Business Group on Health. Opioid treatments in particular can be costly, especially when you factor in hospitalizations, addiction, rehabilitation and the impact on one’s home life. Compare this with digital care, which my company has found reduces costs as a result of fewer costly prescriptions and surgeries. Offering digital care not only saves employers costly treatment plans but also increases employee well-being and satisfaction, positively impacting the workplace culture and employee engagement.
Embedding Digital Care Into Your Workplace Culture
Offering digital care is one thing. Ensuring that your employees actually take advantage of it is another—that’s where culture comes in. Your healthcare resources should be embedded into your culture. Because most people aren’t using healthcare resources on a daily basis, they aren’t usually top-of-mind. Sometimes, employees may not even know what’s available to them. That’s why fostering a culture that truly supports employees’ health and engages them to take advantage of helpful resources is essential.
Successful implementation of digital health solutions often involves continuous reminders to employees about available resources. One way to do this would be to invite clinicians and therapists to meetings to talk to employees.
The answer to keeping employees engaged with their benefits is personalization. Everybody has different needs so taking a blanket approach will not work. Really get to know your employees, look at the utilization data and talk to your ERGs. What offerings are important to them? How do they want to access them? Understanding that and catering to the individual needs of your employees will keep them engaged, and make them feel safe and heard.
With the opioid epidemic getting worse, it’s time for employers to recognize that the problem is far from distant—it’s impacting everyone, including their workforce. Costly treatment and disengaged employees are only a few of the ways opioid addictions may be impacting a company’s bottom line and culture. No one solution will fix the opioid epidemic, but digital care can be an easily accessible starting point. By adopting a digital solution, employers can provide their employees with the proper treatment they deserve, while maintaining a positive, healthy culture where employees can thrive.
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