SafeUseNow℠, an innovative prescription drug abuse risk program developed by Principled Strategies, a healthcare consultancy with expertise in predictive analytics, optimization, and risk analysis, was a featured demo app presenter in the Predictive Analytics for Hospitals track on September 24th at Health 2.0 in Santa Clara, CA. This track was moderated Moderated by Steve Brady of MobileSmith.

Patrick J. Burns, President/CEO discussed how healthcare stakeholders, such as hospitals, clinics and payers, can measure and monitor prescription drug abuse risk in a provider population of interest.

Mr. Burns participated in a panel discussion at the conclusion of the app demo in which he shared his perspective on the future of predictive analytics in a hospital setting.

What if you could stop prescription drug abuse directly at the source? That's the big public health question that Patrick J. Burns, President and CEO, Principled Strategies, addressed at TEDMED 2014. Mr. Burns demonstrated SafeUseNow, an innovative prescription drug abuse risk program, and its prescriber-patient-pharmacy risk analytics app.

SafeUseNow was selected from hundreds of applicants worldwide to be part of The Hive at the annual TEDMED Conference, September 10-12 in San Francisco, CA. The Hive is a community of exceptional startups and entrepreneurs powering healthcare transformation and shaping the future of medicine.

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Patrick J. Burns, President/CEO of Principled Strategies, presented a live demonstration of SafeUseNow℠ at the Annual ACO Sumit: West conference hosted by Opal Events.

Mr. Burns presented a session titled, "Success Stories: Managing Risk". The session showed how clinically-oriented risk programs that make use of Big Data can positively result in a reduction of risk in the provider population, thereby improving the opportunity to reduce prescription drug risk, decrease controlled substance drug utilization, and improve safety -- with a goal of maximizing reimbursement rates.

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Patrick J. Burns, President, Principled Strategies, presented a SafeUseNow℠ case study at the Pacific Northwest Training Conference of the National Association of Drug Diversion Investigators (NADDI) held in Tacoma, WA on August 7, 2014.

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​Mr. Burns presented a case study titled, "Predictive Behaviors of Rx Drug Abuse", which illustrated the successful use of SafeUseNow in a managed care setting. The presentation included a demonstration of a risk analysis dashboard designed to permit a clinical interventionist, risk manager, or investigator to rapidly assess controlled substance utilization risk within a population of physicians, patients, and pharmacies.

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Patrick J. Burns demonstrated the SafeUseNow client analytics portal to an audience at Health Datapalooza 2014. The presentation, which followed a case study format, illustrated how to review prescriber, patient, and pharmacy risk scores in a graphically rich and intuitive app that enables healthcare stakeholders to measure, monitor, and mitigate prescription drug abuse risk. 

Visitors to The Apps Expo included investors, developers, consumers, and health administrators, interested in exploring creative inventors seeking to improve health and health care.

An encore performance of this demo took place in the Live App Demos area, with myriad sponsors and companies featured at the Apps Expo in the Exhibit Hall. 

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Session speakers Paul DuBose, PhD, Vice President, Analytics, Principled Strategies,  and Saira Jan, MS, PharmD, director of clinical pharmacy management, Horizon BlueCross BlueShield of New Jersey, reported the outcomes of a multiyear SafeUseNow pilot program designed to reduce behaviors associated with avoidable medical services and costs.

The SafeUseNow program was designed with a prescriber-centric approach to augment patient-focused efforts already in place. The goals of the program include:

•   Identify prescriber factors of inappropriate prescribing

•   Coordinate care with behavioral health case managers

•   Provide education and resources prescribers perceive as valuable

•   Safe use of opioids for patients who require treatment for pain

•   No abandonment of “difficult” patients

SafeUseNow used a fixed effects panel regression method to determine various risk factor (eg, PSI Score, multiple healthcare providers, multiple pharmacies, and concomitance) and utilization factor (eg, opioid prescription claims and morphine equivalent dose [mg]) end points. Data showed that the cumulative 12-month savings for 1125 prescribers for opioid prescription claims was $2,596,189; and the cumulative 12-month savings for 1125 prescribers for other nonopioid prescription claims was $461,731.

The pilot program was first introduced at AMCP’s 2013 meeting.

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Patrick J. Burns, President of Principled Strategies, introduced SafeUseNow℠ at the 2014 Star Ratings Symposium hosted by Opal Events.

Mr. Burns presented a session titled, "Case Study: SafeUseNow – How Clinically-Oriented Risk Programs Can Improve Quality Scores". The session showed how clinically-oriented risk programs that make use of Big Data can positively result in a reduction of risk in the provider population, thereby improving quality scores.

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Patrick J. Burns, President of Principled Strategies, introduced SafeUseNow at the National Association of Controlled Substance Authorities annual conference.

​​Mr. Burns presented a case study illustrating the successful use of SafeUseNow in a managed care setting. The presentation included a demonstration of a risk analysis dashboard designed to permit a clinical interventionist, risk manager, or investigator to rapidly assess controlled substance utilization risk within a population of physicians, patients, and pharmacies.

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Patrick J. Burns, President of Principled Strategies, introduced SafeUseNow at the Hawaii Regional Training Conference of the National Association of Drug Diversion Investigators (NADDI) held in Honolulu, Hawaii on Wednesday, July 10-11 2013.

​​Mr. Burns presented a case study illustrating the successful use of SafeUseNow in a managed care setting. The presentation included a demonstration of a risk analysis dashboard designed to permit a clinical interventionist, risk manager, or investigator to rapidly assess controlled substance utilization risk within a population of physicians, patients, and pharmacies.

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Patrick J. Burns, President, Principled Strategies, co-presented a scientific poster with David Haddox, MD, DDS, Purdue Pharma, LP, at the 2013 College on Problems of Drug Dependence conference held in San Diego, California on June 15-20. The poster reported a validation study of the Potential Concern Index (PCI) model first presented to the College at CPDD 2011. Mr. Burns and Dr. Haddox reassessed national prescribers of opioids who earned a top 100 PCI score to learn if the PCI scores computed previously predicted the likelihood of subsequent problems, such as board of medical examiners (BOMEX) actions and arrests.

The validation study concluded that 74% of the 97 living Top 100 prescribers experienced a BOMEX medical license action, law enforcement action, and/or significant news event within 1-4 years of identification by the PCI model.

Paul DuBose, PhD, Vice President Analytics, Principled Strategies, introduced SafeUseNow at the Pharmaceutical Management Science Association (PMSA) annual conference held in Bonita Springs, Florida on May 5-8.

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Dr. DuBose co-chaired a session with Mallinckrodt-Covidien about the growing role of compliance in pharmaceutical marketing and describe how advanced analytics can be used to improve prescriber targeting. Specific examples illustrated how patient level data can provide insight to improve accuracy when evaluating how to target away from ‘high-risk’ prescribers.

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Patrick J. Burns, President, Principled Strategies, introduced SafeUseNow at the Western Regional Conference of the National Association of Drug Diversion Investigators (NADDI) held in Las Vegas, NV on April 23, 2013.

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​Mr. Burns presented a case study illustrating the successful use of SafeUseNow in a managed care setting. The presentation included a demonstration of a risk analysis dashboard designed to permit a clinical interventionist, risk manager, or investigator to rapidly assess controlled substance utilization risk within a population of physicians, patients, and pharmacies.

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Lawrence Feinstein, PhD, Vice President Clinical Programs, co-chaired a Pharmacy Briefing titled SafeUseNow: A Controlled Substance Risk Identification and Prescriber Intervention Program at the 25th AMCP Annual Meeting & Expo in San Diego, CA on April 3-5, 2013.

Dr. Feinstein presented a pilot program case study with Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey detailing a SafeUseNow program designed to reduce behaviors (e.g., polypharmacy, multiple prescribers, over-utilization, etc.) associated with avoidable medical services and costs.

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