Responsible Education Achieves Care and Healthy Outcomes for Users' Treatment Act of 2018

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. FITZPATRICK. Mr. Speaker, the opioid epidemic is devastating my community in Bucks and Montgomery Counties. I talk to these families every day.

As our Nation continues to grapple with the deadly effects of the opioid epidemic, it is crucial we take every step possible to stop prescription medication from falling into the wrong hands. We need to ensure that our medical professionals possess the latest best practices for preventing prescription medication abuse, including nonopioid pain management. This is why I am proud the House is considering my REACH OUT Act, H.R. 5796.

By facilitating outreach to outlier opioid prescribers, the REACH OUT Act seeks to educate physicians on their prescribing behaviors without limiting their ability to deliver patient care. It will be an effective step toward reducing the amount of unnecessary prescription opioids in communities across the Nation.

The Responsible Education Achieves Care and Healthy Outcomes for Users' Treatment Act, the REACH OUT Act, H.R. 5796, will direct the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to work with eligible entities, including quality improvement organizations, to engage in outreach with prescribers identified as clinical outliers to share best practices to evaluate their prescribing behavior.

H.R. 5796 would build on the lessons learned from CMS special innovation projects, by spreading best practices for preventing prescription drug abuse, providing outreach and education about nonopioid pain management, and reducing the number of opioids prescribed by outlier prescribers.

An outlier prescriber is identified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with professional stakeholders, as one who prescribes an excessive number of opioids as compared to other prescribers in their medical specialty or geographic area.

Our Nation's drug epidemic is a complicated issue, and our response must be multifaceted. This means giving providers the tools they need to prevent opioid abuse.

I want to thank my colleagues Carlos Curbelo and Mike Thompson for their support in authoring this bill. And I want to thank our chairman, Greg Walden, and his Energy and Commerce Committee for their relentless effort to combat the opioid epidemic across the country.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues, Democrat and Republican alike, to support the passage of our REACH OUT Act.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source