Skip to main content
    • Welcome to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts!
    • Home
    • Find a Doctor & Estimate Costs
    • My Account
    • MyBlue
    • Medicare
    • Employer
    • Broker
    • Provider
    • Careers
    • About Us
    • Contact Support
    • Plans & Products
    • Opioid Resource Center
  • {Mobile Break}
  • Welcome!
  • Get Care
    • Call Member Service:
      1-800-262-2583
    • Talk to a Nurse:
      1-888-247-2583
    • Talk to a Doctor
    • Send Website Feedback
  • Account

    Sign-in to Myblue

    Need to create an account?
    Register Now
    • Welcome to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts!
    • Home
    • Find a Doctor & Estimate Costs
    • My Account
    • MyBlue
    • Medicare
    • Employer
    • Broker
    • Provider
    • Careers
    • About Us
    • Contact Support
    • Plans & Products
    • Opioid Resource Center

Member | Medicare | Employer | Broker | Provider | Careers | About Us

Sign-up for Email

  • Opioid Resource Center
    • Overview
      • Quick Facts on Opioids
    • Prevention
    • Intervention
      • Quick Facts on Narcan
    • Treatment
    • Recovery
    • Planning for Care: Get Help Now
    • Opioid Toolkit Pilot Program
    • Important Support Contact Info
    • Family Support Resources
Español Português 简体中文 Tiếng Việt Pусский

Opioid Resource Center

Opioid Toolkit Pilot Program

Prevention | Intervention | Treatment | Recovery

 Important Support Contacts

 Family Support Resources

 Planning for Care

An opioid toolkit pilot program for employers

Groundbreaking program aims to save lives in the workplace

By BEVERLY FORD
BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD OF MASSACHUSETTS NEWS SERVICE

BOSTON - Inspiration can come from anywhere. Just ask Dr. Ken Duckworth. He credits a team of Philadelphia librarians with inspiring a toolkit that may save the lives of employees who overdose on opioids at work.

Duckworth’s idea was sparked one morning on a road trip, as he drank his coffee and read an article in a Philadelphia newspaper detailing how librarians were administering the opioid antidote Naloxone, commonly known as Narcan, on an almost daily basis in library bathrooms to help users survive an overdose.

“I thought, ‘If librarians in Philadelphia can do it, there’s no reason other people can’t do it,’” said Duckworth, a psychiatrist and behavioral health medical director for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts.

Dr. Ken Duckworth

Dr. Ken Duckworth, Senior Medical Director of Behavioral Health at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts

The concept is simple: Package two nasal spray doses of Narcan in a pouch along with a surgical mask, gloves and instructions on how to administer the drug. Then, distribute the $130 toolkits free of charge to companies in industries where the rate of opioid overdoes is the highest.

Hundreds of those kits will go out to a select group of Massachusetts workplaces under a Blue Cross pilot program launching today. Blue Cross also will provide employee education and training, including an online opioid resource center that will offer info on medication safety, pain management, treatment options and other related information. Partnering with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, the nonprofit insurer also will provide an expert in naloxone administration so the participating employers can train their own in-house trainers.

Narcan Kit

The opioid toolkit includes two doses of Narcan, a mask, gloves, and instructions.

“The idea is to give people information and training on what essentially is a first aid tool,” says Duckworth, who is also medical director of the National Alliance of Mental Illness and an assistant clinical professor at Harvard University Medical School. Having that toolkit available, he says, can shorten the time it takes to administer the lifesaving drug by putting it where it’s needed — in the workplace.

Seventy percent of Massachusetts residents believe Narcan should be widely available in workplaces, according to a new opinion poll released today by Blue Cross.

The drug crisis is hitting the workplace hard: More than 70 percent of employers surveyed by the National Safety Council last year reported experiencing absenteeism, overdoses, drug sales or other instances as a result of on-the-job prescription drug abuse. That has resulted in rising insurance costs, more-on-the-job accidents, and lost productivity for businesses, said NSC senior program manager Rachael Cooper.

The crisis has left employers eager to help their workers, but feeling as if they lack resources to do so, she adds.

“One of the things we know from that survey is that roughly 70 percent of employers want to help their employees,” said Cooper, an expert on substance use prevention. “They want to help but they don’t know how.”

According to the Center for Disease Control, more than 115 people die every day in the United States from opioid overdoses. That accounts for one opioid death every 12 minutes. In 2017 alone, more than 49,000 people died of opioid overdoses in the United States, according to CDC estimates. That’s a 544 percent increase in preventable drug death since 1999, according to the NSC, which calls it “the worst drug crisis in recorded United States history.”

Drug poisoning has become the top cause of unintentional deaths in the United States, according to the NCS, and overdoses are occurring at work as well as home

The 2017 NSC survey found that almost every industry, from transportation and the service industry to professional sports and others, have been affected by opioid abuse. But the impact of the opiate crisis has been especially evident in the construction trades where painful injuries can result in treatment that includes legally prescribed opioid drugs, in some cases leading to addiction, Cooper noted.

In Massachusetts alone, 20 percent of those who died from opioid-related overdoses from 2011-2015 were employed in the construction industry – 1,155 of the 5,580 deaths. Approximately 2,000 opioid deaths occurred in 2017, a massive increase over the prior five years.

“We need to replace the sort of ‘gotcha’ mentality that companies have about drug addiction and turn to a truly successful rehab model,” said Michael J. Wright, director of health, safety and environment for the United Steelworkers union, which has an emergency response team that provides counseling and assistance to workers and family members when someone is injured or killed on the job.

The union also is looking into providing Narcan to jobs sites to deal with overdose issues, Wright said. The medication is available with or without a prescription at pharmacies in Massachusetts and many other states.

In Massachusetts, Shawmut Construction, the New England Regional Council of Carpenters, the city of Brockton and the town of Ware, as well as Blue Cross itself will be among the first employers to stock the Blue Cross Narcan toolkits under the new pilot program.

“The real goal is to open awareness that Narcan is a tool you can get at your pharmacy. It’s easy to learn how to use, it can’t harm people, and it doesn’t make people worse if administered to someone who is not on opioids,” said Duckworth, who expects the pilot program to run through this fall, after which it will evaluated and possibly broadened. “I hope engaging employers in the fight against this crisis could be game-changing.”

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts

Social Media Links

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Linkedln
  • Youtube

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts is an Independent Licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. ® Registered Marks of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. ® ´, ® ´ ´, TM, SM Registered, Service, and Trade Marks are the property of their respective owners. ©   Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Inc.., and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts HMO Blue, Inc.

Footer Menu

  • About us
  • Terms of use
  • Privacy & Security
  • Accessibility
  • Nondiscrimination & Translations Resources
  • Coverage
Nondiscrimination & Translations Resources
  • Español (Spanish)
  • Português (Portuguese)
  • French/Français
  • Chinese/简体中文
  • Haitian Creole/Kreyòl Ayisyen
  • Vietnamese/Tiếng Việt
  • Russian/Русский
  • Mon-Khmer, Cambodian/ខ្មែរ
  • Italian/Italiano
  • Korean/한국어
  • Greek/λληνικά
  • Polish/Polski
  • Hindi/हिंदी
  • Gujarati/ગુજરાતી
  • Tagalog/Tagalog
  • Japanese/日本語
  • German/Deutsch
  • English (English)
  • Lao/ພາສາລາວ
  • Navajo/Diné Bizaad

ATENCIÓN: Si habla español, tiene a su disposición servicios gratuitos de asistencia con el idioma. Llame al número de Servicio al Cliente que figura en su tarjeta de identificación llamada 1-800-472-2689 (TTY: 711 ).

ATENÇÃO: Se fala português, são-lhe disponibilizados gratuitamente serviços de assistência de idiomas. Telefone para os Serviços aos Membros, através do número no seu cartão ID chamar  1-800-472-2689 (TTY: 711 ).

ATTENTION : si vous parlez français, des services d’assistance linguistique sont disponibles gratuitement. Appelez le Service adhérents au numéro indiqué sur votre carte d’assuré appel 1-800-472-2689  (TTY : 711 ).

注意:如果您讲中文,我们可向您免费提供语言协助服务。请拨打您 ID  卡上的号码联系会员服务部 通话 1-800-472-2689(TTY  号码:711 )。

ATANSYON: Si ou pale kreyòl ayisyen, sèvis asistans nan lang disponib pou ou gratis. Rele nimewo Sèvis Manm nan ki sou kat Idantitifkasyon w lan (Sèvis pou Malantandan Rele 1-800-472-2689 TTY: 711 ).

LƯU .: Nếu quý vị n.i Tiếng Việt, c.c dịch vụ hỗ trợ ng.n ngữ được cung cấp cho quý vị miễn ph.. Gọi cho Dịch vụ Hội vi.n theo số tr.n thẻ ID của quý vị Cuộc gọi 1-800-472-2689 (TTY: 711 ).

ВНИМАНИЕ: если Вы говорите по-русски, Вы можете воспользоваться бесплатными услугами переводчика. Позвоните в отдел обслуживания клиентов по номеру, указанному в Вашей идентификационной карте вызов  1-800-472-2689 (телетайп: 711 ).

ការជូនដំណឹង៖ ប្រសិនប. ើអ្នកនិយាយភាសា ខ្មែរ សេ  វាជំនួយភាសាឥតគិតថ្លៃ គឺអាចរកបានសម្  រាប ់អ្នក។ សូមទូរស័ព្ទទ ៅផ ្នែ កសេ  វាសមា  ជិកតាមល េខន  ៅល.  ើប ័ណ្ណ សម្  គាល ់ខ្លួ ខ្លួ នរប ស់អ្នក ហៅ  1-800-472-2689 (TTY: 711) ។

ATTENZIONE: se parlate italiano, sono disponibili per voi servizi gratuiti di assistenza linguistica. Chiamate il Servizio per i membri al numero riportato sulla vostra scheda identificativa chiamata  1-800-472-2689 (TTY: 711 ).

참고 : 한국어를 사용하는 경우 언어 지원 서비스를 무료로 사용할 수 있습니다. 신분증에있는 전화 번호 1-800-472-2689 (TTY : 711)로 회원 서비스에 연락하십시오.

ΠΡΟΣΟΧΗ: Εάν μιλάτε Ελληνικά, διατίθενται για σας υπηρεσίες γλωσσικής βοήθειας, δωρεάν. Καλέστε την Υπηρεσία Εξυπηρέτησης Μελών στον αριθμό της κάρτας μέλους σας (ID Card) κλήση 1-800-472-2689 (TTY: 711 ).

UWAGA: Osoby posługujące się językiem polskim mogą bezpłatnie skorzystać z pomocy językowej. Należy zadzwonić do Działu obsługi ubezpieczonych pod numer podany na identyfikatorze zadzwoń 1-800-472-2689 (TTY: 711 ).

ध्यान दें: य दि  आप ह िन् दी बोलते ह ैं, तो भा षा  सहाय  ता  सेवा एँ, आप के लि ए नि :शुल्क  उपलब्ध ह ैं। सदस्य  सेवा ओं को आपके आई.डी. कार  ्ड पर दि ए गए नंबर पर कॉल करें  कॉल 1-800-472-2689 ( टी .टी .वा ई.: 711).

ધ્યાન આપો:  જો તમે ગુજરા તી બોલતા  હો, તો તમને ભા ષા કીય  સહાય  તા  સેવા ઓ વિ ના  મૂલ્યે  ઉપલબ્ધ છે. તમા રા  આઈડી કાર  ્ડ પર આપેલા  નંબર પર Member Service  ને કૉલ કરો કૉલ કરો 1-800-472-2689 (TTY: 711).

PAUNAWA: Kung nagsasalita ka ng wikang Tagalog, mayroon kang magagamit na mga libreng serbisyo para sa tulong sa wika. Tawagan ang Mga Serbisyo sa Miyembro sa numerong nasa iyong ID Card tumawag 1-800-472-2689 (TTY: 711 ).

お知らせ:日本語をお話しになる方は無料の言語アシスタンスサービスをご利用いただけます。ID カードに記載の電話番号を使用してメンバーサービスまでお電話ください 呼び出す 1-800-472-2689(TTY: 711 )。

ACHTUNG: Wenn Sie Deutsche sprechen, steht Ihnen kostenlos fremdsprachliche Unterstützung zur Verfügung. Rufen Sie den Mitgliederdienst unter der Nummer auf Ihrer ID-Karte an Anrufen 1-800-472-2689 (TTY: 711 ).

ATTENTION: If you speak a language other than English, language assistance services are available to you free of charge. Call 1-800-472-2689 (TTY: 711).

ຂໍ້ຄວນໃສ່ໃຈ: ຖ້າເຈົ້າເວົ້າພາສາລາວໄດ້, ມີການບໍລິການຊ່ວຍເຫຼືອດ້ານພາສາໃຫ້ທ່ານໂດຍບໍ່ເສຍຄ່າ. ໂທ ຫາ ຝ່າຍບໍລິການສະ ມາ ຊິກທີ່ໝາຍເລກໂທລະສັບຢູ່ໃນບັດຂອງທ່ານ ໂທ 1-800-472-2689 (TTY: 711).

BAA !KOHWIINDZIN DOO&G&: Din4 k’ehj7 y1n7[t’i’go saad bee y1t’i’ 47 t’11j77k’e bee n7k1’a’doowo[go 47 n1’ahoot’i’. D77 bee an7tah7g7 ninaaltsoos bine’d44’ n0omba bik1’7g7ij8’ b44sh bee hod77lnih call 1-800-472-2689 (TTY: 711).