Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • ESG: THE NEW IMPERATIVE
Subscribe
  • My Account
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Current News
    • COVID-19
    • Providers
    • Insurance
    • Government
    • Finance
    • Technology
    • Safety & Quality
    • Transformation
    • People
    • Regional News
    • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Patients
    • Operations
    • Care Delivery
    • Payment
    • Midwest
    • Northeast
    • South
    • West
  • Digital Health
  • Insights
    • ACA 10 Years After
    • Best Practices
    • Special Reports
    • Innovations
  • Data/Lists
    • Rankings/Lists
    • Interactive Databases
    • Data Points
  • Op-Ed
    • Bold Moves
    • Breaking Bias
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Vital Signs Blog
    • From the Editor
  • Awards
    • Nominate/Eligibility
    • 100 Most Influential People
    • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
    • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
    • Excellence in Governance
    • Health Care Hall of Fame
    • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
    • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
    • Top 25 Innovators
    • Diversity in Healthcare
    • Women in Healthcare
    • - Luminaries
    • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
    • - Leaders to Watch
    • - Luminaries
    • - Top 25 Women Leaders
    • - Women to Watch
  • Events
    • Conferences
    • Galas
    • Virtual Briefings
    • Webinars
    • Custom Media Event: ESG Summit
    • Transformation Summit
    • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
    • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
    • Leadership Symposium
    • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
    • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
    • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
    • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
    • - Hospital of the Future
    • - Value Based Care
    • - Supply Chain Revenue Cycle
    • - Hospital at Home
    • - Workplace of the Future
    • - Strategic Marketing
    • - Virtual Health
  • Listen
    • Podcast - Next Up
    • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
    • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
    • Video Series - The Check Up
    • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
  • MORE +
    • Advertise
    • Media Kit
    • Newsletters
    • Jobs
    • People on the Move
    • Reprints & Licensing
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Opinion & Editorial
June 29, 2018 01:00 AM

Commentary: The battle against opioid addiction will be won in communities, not in Washington

Dr. Ronald Yee
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print

    The rising death toll from opioid addiction has galvanized a federal response and a strategy is taking shape. But, as many have pointed out, the ground battle against opioids will not be fought in Washington, but far beyond the Beltway in communities where the ravages of addiction are costing lives and destroying families and businesses.

    In an encouraging development, HHS recently announced $350 million in new funding for community health centers so they can expand their work on the front lines of this national epidemic. Indeed, health center waiting rooms were filling up with patients needing help with substance use disorders long before opioids made national headlines. Patient visits for behavioral health services, including mental health and substance use disorders, have grown by 83% since 2010.

    Health centers are not the only providers getting squeezed by a demand for services. The entire healthcare system bears the costs related to consequences of addiction and substance use disorder. Nearly one-third of all hospital costs are linked to addiction and substance use, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Moreover, the country is experiencing increased rates of neonatal abstinence syndrome (newborns with withdrawal symptoms), hepatitis C infections and HIV along with increased emergency department visits and hospitalizations. Despite these heavy costs, not to mention overdose deaths, options for patients to access the support and services needed for recovery remain limited, even for those with health insurance.

    Yet changes are in the works as the nation recognizes the problem's scope. A case in point is West Virginia, where opioid-related mortality rates are among the highest in the nation at 52 deaths per 100,000 residents. Community Care of West Virginia, a community health center that spans nine counties across the central part of state, operates a pain management center to help patients who may suffer from both chronic pain and substance use disorders.

    Before patients are granted an appointment with a pain specialist they are screened to assess overall physical health and well-being as well as their support system. For example, does the patient have transportation available to make appointments? Are there medical conditions that require attention? Is there family support for recovery in the home? The center uses naltrexone as the medication in its treatment program, which reduces the craving for opioids. Beyond that, clinicians recognize that effective assistance with recovery could and should involve a plan that addresses addiction management in the patient's real-world environment.

    Community Care Chief Medical Officer Dr. Sarah Chouinard explains, "My future vision is a treatment and prevention strategy that is more comprehensive than outpatient meetings or even 28-day programs in which we treat the addiction and then release the patients to the streets without any support. Effective treatment leading to recovery is teaching patients how to be strong and healthy, gain survival skills and transition from being drug-dependent to jobs and independence."

    The West Virginia center is just one of many engaged in treating addiction at its roots. As trusted community providers, health centers understand that substance use is a complex disorder that typically has multiple accompanying health and socio-economic conditions. Health centers are piloting promising and innovative solutions and addressing the factors that lie behind substance use, such as childhood trauma, mental illness, poverty and domestic violence.

    Clearly, treating addiction requires systemic change in healthcare delivery. We need a new framework. From a patient's perspective, it means being able to move seamlessly across a continuum of care from prevention, to management, to maintaining sobriety.

    The HIV/AIDS epidemic of the 1980s taught us that the healthcare system can be transformed to effectively address a crisis. Congress should continue to direct federal substance use prevention and treatment funding opportunities to health centers and the CDC. Beyond resources, leaders, policymakers and the public health community must commit to a strategy that not only widens the options for affordable services, but creates pathways for patients with substance use disorders. No one should go without needed care.

    Dr. Ronald Yee is chief medical officer of the National Association of Community Health Centers.

    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Send us a letter

    Have an opinion about this story? Click here to submit a Letter to the Editor, and we may publish it in print.

    Recommended for You
    Dennis Matheis
    Sentara Healthcare names Dennis Matheis next top executive
    supreme-court-healthcare-ok_WEB_i.jpg
    Healthcare groups react to Supreme Court abortion ruling
    Sponsored Content
    Get Newsletters

    Sign up for enewsletters and alerts to receive breaking news and in-depth coverage of healthcare events and trends, as they happen, right to your inbox.

    Subscribe Today
    MH Magazine Cover

    MH magazine offers content that sheds light on healthcare leaders’ complex choices and touch points—from strategy, governance, leadership development and finance to operations, clinical care, and marketing.

    Subscribe
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS

    Our Mission

    Modern Healthcare empowers industry leaders to succeed by providing unbiased reporting of the news, insights, analysis and data.

    Contact Us

    (877) 812-1581

    Email us

     

    Resources
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise with Us
    • Ad Choices Ad Choices
    • Sitemap
    Editorial Dept
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Code of Ethics
    • Awards
    • About Us
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Modern Healthcare
    Copyright © 1996-2022. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Current News
      • COVID-19
      • Providers
      • Insurance
      • Government
      • Finance
      • Technology
      • Safety & Quality
      • Transformation
        • Patients
        • Operations
        • Care Delivery
        • Payment
      • People
      • Regional News
        • Midwest
        • Northeast
        • South
        • West
      • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Digital Health
    • Insights
      • ACA 10 Years After
      • Best Practices
      • Special Reports
      • Innovations
    • Data/Lists
      • Rankings/Lists
      • Interactive Databases
      • Data Points
    • Op-Ed
      • Bold Moves
      • Breaking Bias
      • Commentaries
      • Letters
      • Vital Signs Blog
      • From the Editor
    • Awards
      • Nominate/Eligibility
      • 100 Most Influential People
      • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
      • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
      • Excellence in Governance
      • Health Care Hall of Fame
      • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
      • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
      • Top 25 Innovators
      • Diversity in Healthcare
        • - Luminaries
        • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
        • - Leaders to Watch
      • Women in Healthcare
        • - Luminaries
        • - Top 25 Women Leaders
        • - Women to Watch
    • Events
      • Conferences
        • Transformation Summit
        • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
        • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
        • Leadership Symposium
      • Galas
        • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
        • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
        • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
        • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
      • Virtual Briefings
        • - Hospital of the Future
        • - Value Based Care
        • - Supply Chain Revenue Cycle
        • - Hospital at Home
        • - Workplace of the Future
        • - Strategic Marketing
        • - Virtual Health
      • Webinars
      • Custom Media Event: ESG Summit
    • Listen
      • Podcast - Next Up
      • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
      • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
      • Video Series - The Check Up
      • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
    • MORE +
      • Advertise
      • Media Kit
      • Newsletters
      • Jobs
      • People on the Move
      • Reprints & Licensing