Opioid addiction is a chronic disease and its proper clinical designation is opioid use disorder, or OUD. This disease doesn’t discriminate. It can affect anyone, regardless of race, gender, or any other social or economic factor. With death rates continuing to rise, many policymakers, medical professionals, hospitals, and other organizations have been working together to treat OUD and save the lives of people struggling with this condition.
In Pennsylvania, WellSpan Health is an example of a health system that is making strides to combat the opioid crisis.
“Through our expanded network of medication-assisted treatment (MAT) services, more individuals with OUD can get connected to treatment at the right place and the right time within their own community,” Dr. Chris Echterling, medical director of vulnerable populations for WellSpan Health, said.
MAT combines medication therapy, using medications such as buprenorphine, and behavioral therapy to treat people who have OUD. Because medication alone does not sufficiently address the root cause of a person’s opioid addiction, a comprehensive approach incorporating medication, counseling, and recovery support services is the best treatment for people with OUD.
“Addiction is a life-threatening illness that hijacks the brain. It impacts a person’s chance to enjoy life, hold a job, keep good relationships, and be healthy. No treatment is one size fits all,” Dr. Echterling said. “We take a customized, whole-person approach to make sure we help meet patients’ needs, so they can stay on the path to recovery.”
WellSpan Health received a Pennsylvania Coordinated Medication-Assisted Treatment (PacMAT) grant during late 2017. As of July 2018, more than 420 individuals had been treated with MAT—surpassing the grant’s goal of treating 300 patients by October 2019.
In addition to the MAT services it has provided to patients, WellSpan is dedicated to educating prescribers to understand new pain treatment guidelines. With more than 10 residency and fellowship training programs in its network, WellSpan is using the grant not only to transform how pain and OUD are approached but also to train the next generation of caregivers. All WellSpan medical residents will be provided addiction training and have the opportunity to obtain certifications that allow them to prescribe buprenorphine so they are equipped to help address the opioid epidemic.
There are 14 non-WellSpan partners supporting this project, which represents the strong commitment to serving patients through the MAT program in Pennsylvania communities.
“Ultimately, this collaborative work will create higher demand for treatment services as more individuals with opioid addiction receive the intervention and support they need to begin their recovery journey,” Dr. Echterling said. “Patients continue to sense a stigma related to addiction and addiction services. Delayed access to treatment can lead to death with the increasingly potent opioids in circulation, such as fentanyl.
“With MAT treatment becoming increasingly available from primary care providers who have the support of recovery support specialists, the hope is not only to provide more timely treatment but to decrease the stigma of seeking treatment.”
Dr. Echterling said WellSpan plans to establish processes for initiation of buprenorphine in emergency departments, to expand addiction services, to integrate MAT training in medical residency education, and to develop additional patient and staff educational resources.
Videos for patients and their families are available at www.wellspan.org/MAT.