The Opioid Prescribing Work Group (OPWG) is an advisory body of experts convened to forward DHS’ Opioid Prescribing Improvement Program (OPIP). The program plays a crucial role in Minnesota’s response to the crisis of prescription opioid misuse and abuse, namely addressing inappropriate prescribing behavior among Minnesota health care providers.
The Opioid Prescribing Improvement Program was created in 2015 at the direction of the governor and the Legislature, and the work group was recently extended through 2021. The work group is tasked with providing recommendations on the following program components:
Protocols that address all phases of the opioid prescribing cycle
Development of educational resources and messages for providers to use in communicating with patients about pain and the use of opioids to treat pain
A threshold for Minnesota Health Care Programs-enrolled providers with persistently concerning prescribing practices that will trigger quality improvement; and disenrollment standards for termination from Minnesota Health Care Programs.
Appointing authority: Commissioner of Human Services.
Compensation: $200 honorarium plus reimbursement for mileage and parking.
(Minnesota Statutes, section 256B.0638)
The following individuals are serving two-year terms ending Dec. 31, 2021. Those indicated by an asterisk (*) are new members, all others are returning.
The information in parenthesis indicates the statutorily set membership categories.
Nathan Chomilo, MD, Minnesota Department of Human Services (Minnesota Health Care Programs medical director; nonvoting)
Kurtis Couch, Waterville (Public member who uses or who has used opioid therapy to manage chronic pain)
Julie L. Cunningham, PharmD, BCPP, Chair, Mayo Clinic Health System (non physician health care professional who treats pain)
Kurt DeVine, MD, CHI St. Gabriel’s Health (licensed physician)
Sen. Chris Eaton, RN, Minnesota State Senate (consumer representative)
The 2021 meetings will be held remotely until further notice. Instructions for accessing the meetings are provided via the work group’s email distribution list and in the Live-streaming webcast section that follows. Contact dhs.opioid@state.mn.us if you have questions about the meetings.
Upcoming meetings will be posted to the web site and announced through the work group’s email distribution list. Please email dhs.opioid@state.mn.us to be added to the list.
Upcoming meetings: Feb. 25, 2021, (meeting start time is noon)
All meetings take place from noon – 3 p.m. CST unless otherwise specified
2021 meeting dates:
The OPWG will not meet every month in 2021, but the date for every month is provided so that people may hold the time on their calendars. Similar to previous years, the OPWG will likely meet monthly in winter and spring 2021 and then take a break over the summer.
Meeting location: The 2021 OPWG meetings will be held remotely due to social distancing policies until further notice. Meetings are open to the public and instructions about how to participate remotely are provided in this section. There are two options for participation: participating via the Webex meeting or viewing the live-streaming webcast.
Webex meeting: DHS staff will email instructions to join a Webex meeting before each OPWG meeting to those on our OPWG email list. Members of the public are welcome to join the Webex meeting, but participation will be limited to the public comment periods and submitting questions and comments via the chat function.
Live-streaming webcast: You can view a live-streaming webcast of each meeting and submit written comments or questions in real time. Submitted comments and questions will be addressed during the public comment portion of each meeting. You do not need to register in advance to view the live webcast.
View the live-streaming webcast. Note: the link will be live at approximately 11:45 a.m. on the day of the work group meeting. If the primary hyperlink does not work, a backup link is available. The webcast is best supported on Chrome and FireFox. If you experience difficulty accessing the webcast on the day of the work group meeting, please call the IT Help Desk at 651-431-2070.
Meeting agendas: See the Meeting materials section below for agendas, or email staff to receive agendas and background materials via email before each meeting.
To request an accommodation: To request a reasonable accommodation to make it possible for you to attend any of the meetings or view the live webcast, please send a request as soon as possible to staff.
DHS is committed to transparency and gathering public input during development of the Opioid Prescribing Improvement Program. There are currently no specific public comment periods open, but DHS welcomes public comment on the program at anytime.
The DHS opioid prescribing reports compare an individual provider’s prescribing rates in seven opioid prescribing measures to the average rate of their specialty peer providers. The reports do not identify any individual or group peers. The purpose of the reports is to support quality improvement among providers at the local and the state level.
