Fewer Opioids, More Pay: New Tack on How Doctors Prescribe Them

Some doctors in Michigan are prescribing as few as four opioid pills for pain relief after a common gall bladder surgery.

And, in return, they are paid 35 percent more for doing the surgery in tandem with patient education.

The plan is an effort by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan to reduce the number of opioids prescribed. It works like this:

In pre-operative consultations, participating doctors walk patients through ways to reduce pain without using opioids, like icing and switching between ibuprofen and acetaminophen. When the doctors pull out their prescription pads, they prescribe the bare minimum of pills, ...