Collaborative care intervention improves outcomes for opioid, alcohol use in primary care setting: U.S. study

U.S. researchers at RAND Corporation report that integrating a collaborative care intervention for opioid and/or alcohol use disorders in primary care settings was found to significantly increase access to treatment and abstinence from drugs and alcohol compared with usual care. Patients in the collaborative care group met with care coordinators who evaluated their motivation, encouraged them to meet with a therapist for evaluation and treatment planning and regularly performed assessments of their substance use. These patients were input into a registry that monitored their treatment progress and prompted care coordinators to follow up with patients who missed scheduled visits. Among the findings of their study:

• More patients in the collaborative care group received opioid and/or alcohol use disorders treatment at six months than those in the usual care group (39% vs. 16.8%);
• Patients receiving collaborative care were more likely to report abstinence from opioids or alcohol at six months than those receiving usual care (32.8% vs. 22.3%); and
• More patients in the collaborative care group met the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set initiation and engagement measures (initiation, 31.6% vs 13.7%; engagement, 15.5% vs. 4.2%) and who abstained from opioids, cocaine, methamphetamines, marijuana and any alcohol (26.3% vs. 15.6%), compared with the usual care group.