The recidivism rates for alcohol and drug addiction are heartbreaking, and efforts to help people crawl out of their private hells have mostly failed. It doesn’t look as if the patient-centered medical home (PCMH), one of the bulwarks of the Affordable Care Act, will help much either, according to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
Chronic care management (CCM) will be one of the goals of PCMHs, note the authors of “Chronic Care Management for Dependence on Alcohol and Other Drugs,” in the Sept. 18 issue.
About 560 people in Boston were recruited from an urban teaching hospital, detoxification units, and via advertisements to participate in a randomized study from September 2006 to September 2008.
Of those, 282 received CCM and 281 were simply given a primary care appointment and a list of resources that included phone numbers of counselors.
“Chronic care management included longitudinal care coordinated with a primary care clinician; motivational enhancement therapy; relapse prevention counseling; and on-site medical, addiction, and psychiatric treatment, social work assistance, and referrals (including mutual help),” the study states. “The no CCM (control) group received a primary care appointment and a list of treatment resources, including a telephone number to arrange counseling.”
After a year, 44% of the CCM group reported abstinence from opioids, stimulants, or heavy drinking. For the control group, it was 42%.
More like this
- Insurers Give Substance Abuse New Identity: It’s a Disease
- Does the Chronic Care Model Signal Big Changes for DM?
- Programs for High-Need Patients: What Makes the Good Ones Good?
- Sobering Stats Invite Insurers To Fight Alcoholism Effectively
- Chronic Care Management Payments: Another Step Away from Fee-For-Service
Paul Lendner ist ein praktizierender Experte im Bereich Gesundheit, Medizin und Fitness. Er schreibt bereits seit über 5 Jahren für das Managed Care Mag. Mit seinen Artikeln, die einen einzigartigen Expertenstatus nachweisen, liefert er unseren Lesern nicht nur Mehrwert, sondern auch Hilfestellung bei ihren Problemen.