The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (“ONDCP”) recently released a publication outlining strategies intended to increase Americans’ access to high-quality substance use disorder (“SUD”) treatment and support services, using an evidence-based framework. The ONDCP noted that nearly 89% of people suffering from substance use disorder in 2018 fell into the so-called “treatment gap,” where they did not receive specialized treatment for their condition.
The Treatment Plan addresses the reasons for the treatment gap, provider shortages and financial issues, as well as the stigma of addiction. In addition, the Plan notes that some patients do not seek help because they lack awareness about the severity of their condition. The ONDCP explains its focus on the treatment gap as critical since it is “one reason the United States lost over 70,000 people to a drug overdose in 2017. There is an urgent need in our nation to identify substance use problems before they develop into substance use disorders, increase access to treatment, make treatment services and care more widely available, and ensure that the services provided are evidence-based and high quality.”
Accordingly, the Plan provides the following strategies:
Encourages healthcare providers to screen for SUDs so patient can receive appropriate treatment. Integrates treatment services better into mainstream healthcare, and increases addiction medicine services in hospitals and emergency rooms.
Seeks to mitigate financial barriers by working with public and private health insurers to pay for life-saving treatment.
Explores innovative healthcare delivery strategies, including telemedicine, and mobile treatment clinics. Develops mobile and online applications providing up-to-date information on treatment slot availability, information on providers, and online appointment scheduling.
Supports strategies to build addiction workforce, including in rural areas. Supports Addiction Medicine and Addiction Psychiatry fellowships and residencies.
Combats the stigma of addiction, both in a patient’s community and in their employment.
Addresses quality issues by promoting evidence-based practices, including medication-assisted treatment and medically-managed detoxification, and eliminating fraud. Explores the development of national quality standards.
Promotes the development of specialized treatment and support for communities with “unique needs,” including Native American and Alaska Native populations, as well as those in the criminal justice system, homeless individuals, individuals with disabilities, expecting and new mothers, and infants with neo-natal abstinence syndrome.
Recognizes the need to support those in long-term recovery to access affordable and recovery-friendly housing, education, employment and peer support services.
In order to implement these strategies, the Plan envisions coordination across Federal, state and local governments, as well as nonprofits and various non-governmental organizations, and the private sector. ONDCP notes that it will “coordinate with Federal partners on a regular basis to monitor implementation status of these actions on a tiered and prioritized basis,” and, in turn, ONDCP and Federal partners will coordinate with non-federal partners “to monitor collaboration where Actions require.”