Outcomes Measurement in 2022
Dilworth Center, along with several other treatment providers across the country, is partnering with the National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers Foundation for Recovery Science Education to study treatment effectiveness for substance use disorders.
With America’s addiction crisis crippling the nation, skyrocketing rates of substance use and death, particularly with opioid overdose, combined with a lack of access to services and healthcare inequities, the National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers (NAATP) has responded with the creation of a new non-profit entity designed to measure the effectiveness of treatment. The NAATP Foundation for Recovery Science and Education (FoRSE) will conduct the Addiction Treatment Outcomes Program through a new and unique centralized Clinical Data Repository that allows data sharing from diverse populations and technology systems, with the ability to provide site-specific benchmarking reports on aggregated and de-identified data. This will, in turn, allow NAATP to evaluate the outcomes of different services for varied populations as never before.
NAATP CEO Marvin Ventrell said, “As the treatment for the disease of substance use disorder (SUD) establishes its footprint within the larger health care system, it is imperative for its viability, establishment of law and policy, insurance reimbursement, and consumer confidence that providers be able to demonstrate quality of care in the manner the system requires. If we do not do this, we will never be able to successfully address the addiction crisis in this country, and it is a moral imperative that we do so.”
With groundwork for the program concluded and documented in NAATP’s Outcomes Pilot Program in 2019, NAATP began work on the new foundation in 2020 in preparation for the official launch that will take place at the NAATP National Addiction Leadership Conference, NAATP National 2021, December 7-9 in Denver, CO. FoRSE Executive Director Dr. Annie Peters said, “We are thrilled to present the outcomes program to the addiction treatment national leadership this December. The key to the program’s importance is that it is a program of collaborative science, meaning it will focus on partnerships across disciplines to pursue a common mission. We want everyone on board to collect and use data ethically for our shared vision: to help people get more and better care.” Peters added, “addiction is treated in many settings, and data must be pooled and analyzed to advocate for a better standard of care. Without these data, we cannot establish the standardized measures that are prerequisite to the effective treatment of any disease.”
As part of the work, FoRSE is committed to reducing the racial disparities in healthcare, which will be addressed at NAATP National 2021 as well. Peters said, “Integral to effectiveness and access to care is effectiveness and access to care for all.” CEO Ventrell said, “It is essential that FoRSE incorporate NAATP’s broader commitment to equity as set forth in our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Program.”
To date, 18 treatment facilities are participating as early adopter data sites. The program is open to many more participants as it evolves. NAATP Board Chair and FoRSE Founders Campaign Chair Bob Ferguson said, “NAATP members are a motivated community of treatment professionals dedicated to excellent care. They are already effective, and still they are committed to the improvement of the field at large. In addition to the early adopter data sites, we are tremendously grateful to those NAATP FoRSE Founding Donors who have given $1 million already this year.”
