The workers compensation industry is educating health care providers and injured workers about sleeping pill alternatives to improve patient safety, reports BusinessInsurance.com.

“Poor quality and insufficient duration of sleep are among the strongest predictors for pain in adults over 50,” Dr. Terrence J. Wilson, Dallas-based utilization review medical director at managed care services provider Genex Services L.L.C., said in an email.

The relationship between pain and insomnia is why sleep aids often are prescribed with other categories of medications, such as opioids, he said.