Counseling Points - September 2007 - (Page 4)

Office-based Medication-assisted Treatment of Opioid Dependence Introduction The 2005 National Survey on Drug Use from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) reports that there are 9 million current users of illicit drugs (other than marijuana) in the United States, including 4.7 million users of prescription pain relievers. An estimated 2.9 million people began using illicit drugs in 2005, averaging to nearly 8,000 initiates per day. With spiraling rises in opioid misuse and addiction, there has been an increase in the number of opioid-addicted individuals seeking treatment—yet treatment facilities can effectively meet less than 25% of the needs of the community at large. For 1 million individuals addicted to heroin, there are only approximately 260,000 openings in methadone clinics available to provide short-term, medical withdrawal (i.e., outpatient detoxification) of 3 to 30 days. What’s more, many addicted patients relapse due to undertreatment mandated by insurance limitations. Recent legislative changes have been made to address the gap and the limited treatment options. The Drug Addiction Treatment Act (DATA) of 2000 made office-based opioid treatment available for the first time since the Harrison Narcotic Act in 1914. At this time, buprenorphine HCI (Subutex®) and buprenorphine HCI/naloxone HCO dehydrate (Suboxone®) are the only medications approved under DATA 2000 for office-based use by physicians; DATA does not permit nurse practitioners to prescribe this Schedule-3 narcotic. Originally, the law limited the number of patients who could be treated to 30 per practice, which was amended twice to lift the maximum limit for group practices and to increase the limit to 100 patients per certified provider (i.e., a provider who has been certified under DATA 2000 for 1 year). These With spiraling rises in opioid misuse and addiction, there has been an increase in the number of opioid-addicted individuals seeking treatment—yet treatment facilities can effectively meet less than 25% of the needs of the community at large. changes have made the treatment much more widely available. Identifying Patients at Risk Substance use disorders continue to challenge health care providers in the United States and throughout the world. Identifying addiction in the population and recognizing the impact of substance misuse and related activity on the individual and on society remains critical to achieving affordable, effective addiction recovery health care. Statistics available from SAMHSA-funded studies in 2005 suggest there may be as many as 22.5 million Americans 12 years or older who could be classified as having a substance abuse or dependence problem, yet only 2.3 million of them are receiving treatment. People with addictions may present in any practice setting, under the most routine circumstances—and unless the right questions are asked, such individuals may easily go undetected and untreated. Substance use disorders do not appear in isolation, but often result from embedded patterns of addictive behavior from early family life. Parents with substance use disorders serve as models for their children, and become ineffective, inattentive, or abusive in their child-rearing behaviors, contributing to their children’s potential for addictive disorders. Adolescent and teenage substance use disorders have shown a 39% 4 COUNSELING POINTS™

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Counseling Points - September 2007

Welcome Office-Based Medication-Assisted Treatment of Opioid Dependence Summary Continuing Education Posttest Postest Answer and Program Evaluation Form

Counseling Points - September 2007

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.