From Product to Passion

I hope everyone has enjoyed their holidays. I know for some, it's a joyous time of gathering with family and friends, relaxing time away from work, reduced stress. For others, it's joyless due to memories of those who are missing, increased financial stress or uncertainty about the short/near/long term future. For still others, there are health challenges that make every day difficult. I've been in each category and niches in between. During the typical introspection as one year closes / another year opens, I hope that you can count more satisfying moments than regrets over the past twelve months.

It has been an amazing year for me. I've had a number of people that have helped it be amazing. My boss at PRIUM, Michael Gavin (aka "Evidence Based"), who has the "big picture" vision to enable my creative license. Helen Patterson, the best P/R person and writing mentor ever. Dr. Steven Feinberg, an amazing mentor to me on functional restoration. Becky Curtis, a tremendous example of resiliency. David DePaolo and Mark Walls and Bob Wilson and Joe Paduda, the blogging "Mount Rushmore", who provided great insights. Lori Kammerer (California) and Bill Pipkin (WCI), networking geniuses. Stuart Colburn, my inspiration to become a speaker and writer. My Mom and Dad, who gifted me talents I never knew I had. And many, many, many more.

Sooooooo, here's the statistics:

• 171,245 miles flown (164,325 in 2015)
• 65 unique itineraries (51 in 2015)
• 177 individual flights (169 in 2015)
• 75.5% of business days out of the office (72.5% in 2015)
• LAX (14), SLC (9 connections, 1 as destination), SFO (8) and ABQ (7)
• I touched down in California a total of 34 times - beyond LAX and SFO I also visited SNA (5), SMF (3), SAN (2), BUR (1) and OAK (1)

Most of this travel was related to speaking engagements about the opioid and heroin epidemic, how to manage polypharmacy regimens and chronic pain, best practices for weaning and functional restoration, implications of medical cannabis, tools like drug formularies and PDMP's. In general, anything I saw at the intersection of chronic pain and appropriate treatment. And that resulted in ...

• 79 presentations (88 in 2015 ... 386 since March 2012)
• 8,046 people (6,066 in 2015 ... 26,466 since March 2012)
• 26 states + DC (27 in 2015 ... 40 states + DC since March 2012)
• 6 national webinars (1 in 2015 ... 16 since March 2012)

Among those were several national events:

• Abuse Deterrent Formulations Summit
• Brain Injury Business Practice College
• The CLM (Claims and Litigation Management Alliance) annual Conference
• IAIABC (International Association of Industrial Accident Boards and Commissions) annual Forum and Convention
• IRSG (Insurance Rehabilitation Study Group) annual Conference
• Mentors for Military national podcast
• NAMSAP (National Alliance of Medicare Set-Aside Professionals) annual Meeting
• National Rx Drug Abuse & Heroin Summit
• National Workers' Compensation & Disability Conference
• NWCDN (National Workers’ Compensation Defense Network) annual Conference
• SAM (Smart Approaches to Marijuana) Conference
• SAWCA (Southern Association of Workers' Compensation Administrators) All-Committee Conference
• SIIA (Self-Insurance Institute of America) Work Comp Forum and Annual Conference
• Spreemo's QRI (Quality Research Institute) Summit
• WCI (Workers' Compensation Institute) annual Conference
• WorkCompCentral's Comp Laude Gala

I also had the opportunity to speak at statewide conferences in California, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, and Texas. And many regional or local events and Continuing Education (CE) classes.

In and around those speaking engagements, I wrote. A lot,

• 63 original blogposts on LinkedIn (scan the list of all 84 to-date)
• Frequent status updates for my LinkedIn and Twitter (@RxProfessor) followers of important content from other authors
• Three published articles: "Can Marijuana Solve the Opioid Epidemic?" (Claims Management, FEB 2016, page 12), "Positive PDMP Progress" (Work Comp Magazine, APR-MAY 2016), "The Intersection of Wellness and Workers' Compensation" (The Self Insurer Magazine, SEP 2016, page 26)
• Frequent pithy quotes in articles by WorkCompCentral and Business Insurance

Because of those efforts, I was named one of the "Best Blogs of Work Comp" in May by Workerscompensation.com. Blew my mind.

I built off the success of my 2015 involvement with AB 1124 in California (mandated a Work Comp drug formulary) and continued legislative support with many colleagues. We lost HB 195 in New Mexico (override the court mandate for Work Comp to reimburse for medical cannabis). We won SB 482 in California (mandates prescribers use the CURES PDMP for all Schedule II-III-IV drugs). I personally chatted with Work Comp administrations and/or legislators in 14 different states as they considered legislation or rules around drug formularies, treatment guidelines, utilization review, medical cannabis and other related issues.

And then, in November, I was awarded the Magna Comp Laude award by WorkCompCentral. It is the second highest award they give out annually to those who help make a difference in Work Comp. Totally unreal.

If you don't know me personally, you might take all of the above as bragging (and with an eye roll and flick of the wrist you stopped reading already). However, if you DO know me, you know it's not in my nature to brag. And there will be a moral to the story. That it's not about the messenger but about the message. That it's not about activity but about action. That it's not about making any particular person look good, but to help us all be better.

If you had given these 2016 facts to me on March 21, 2012 - the day prior to my first public presentation about opioids - I would have never believed you. Not in a million years. Not even a possibility. It would be far fetched. An unattainable goal. A dream for someone else - not me.

I began this journey in 2003 as product development for PRIUM to address the burgeoning opioid issue. It had not yet been recognized by either the CDC or Work Comp as an "epidemic", but I recognized a problem and need and created services to help initiate the battle. During that process I read thousands of pages of medical records and drug transactions. I visited with experts around the country. I read best practices and guidelines. Then I saw our services help injured workers find less dangerous treatment options for their pain, prescribers change their Rx behavior, and payers resolve claims they had given up on. And it then became a personal passion to make a difference. For me, it evolved from product to passion.

What drove me then, drives me today, and will drive me until I'm no longer on this planet, is creating epiphanies that create positive action. The more people I meet, talk to, listen to, write about ... the more opportunities there are for epiphanies which can lead to change.

I used to struggle when people asked me to describe what I do. I've had a number of careers and focuses and interests and passions (business and personal), so distilling that in an "elevator pitch" sometimes was difficult to do. But in 2016, I settled on two words that sum up who Mark Pew, The RxProfessor, is ...

• Educator (create an epiphany)
• Agitator (make change happen)

What is your dream? What is your purpose? What is your passion? What is your legacy?

If you're not now who/where you want to be, what do you need to do differently?

I'm living proof that ANYBODY can achieve ANYTHING.

So what does 2017 hold for The RxProfessor? As always, I have some "guiding principles" that drive goals. I already have some great content lined up (so stay tuned). But I also know, based on my journey, that new opportunities will arise that I cannot envision in advance. So my biggest goal is to remain adaptable and opportunistic. While the Best Blogs and Magna Comp Laude awards might be considered a landing, for me they are a launching. I'm not done. Not by a long shot.

Happy New Year!