Increasing Substance Use Provider Capacity (Illinois SUPPORT)

Problem

Despite the ongoing opioid crisis across the United States, access to health care services and the provision of treatment for opioid use disorder remains a challenge.

Overdose-related fatalities, primarily driven by fentanyl, continue to increase across the United States and remain the leading cause of death for people under the age of 50. In 2022, 108,000 people died from a drug overdose.; Nearly 70% of these deaths involved an opioid.

A significant treatment gap exists for opioid use disorder (OUD), with many people who need help not receiving it. This gap is primarily due to three factors: limited accessibility, high costs, and social stigma. To effectively address the ongoing opioid crisis, it's critical to:

Accurately estimate the number of individuals with OUD
Identify the specific challenges these individuals face in accessing treatment
Understand the barriers that hinder healthcare providers from offering OUD treatment

Solution

NORC conducted a mixed-methods assessment of the prevalence of OUD among Illinois Medicaid managed care members to understand the barriers to accessing and providing care.

NORC, in partnership with the University of Illinois Chicago, conducted a mixed-methods study to examine opioid use disorder (OUD) among Illinois Medicaid managed care members. Our study aimed to:

Determine the prevalence of OUD among Illinois Medicaid managed care members

Understand the barriers patients face in accessing health services and medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for OUD

Explore providers' experiences in delivering MAT to individuals with OUD

Our data collection efforts included:

A multimodal web and phone-based survey of Illinois Medicaid managed care members to assess:

Prevalence of alcohol and other substance use

Prevalence of prescription opioid misuse and opioid use disorder

Presence of serious mental illness

Barriers to accessing health care and substance use treatment

A web-based survey of Illinois providers to examine:

            Prescribing practices

            Barriers to prescribing MAT

            Recommendations to reduce or remove prescribing barriers

            Training and technical assistance needs

Key informant interviews with Illinois providers to explore:
- Barriers to offering MAT
  
  Recommendations to address those barriers
  
  Technical assistance to estimate the prevalence of Illinois Medicaid members who received OUD treatment

Result

We uncovered insights on the prevalence of opioid misuse and OUD among Illinois Medicaid managed care members and the barriers to both patients and providers in treating OUD.

Our study revealed several barriers to accessing, providing, and improving OUD treatment access and delivery:

Patient-reported barriers (Illinois Medicaid managed care members):

Insufficient behavioral health treatment referral sources for patients prescribed MAT

Lack of OUD and MAT training in medical schools and continuing education

Provider-suggested improvements:

Additional case management support for patients with OUD

Better understanding of resources and support available in the community

More administrative support for offering MAT

These findings can inform efforts to improve OUD treatment access and delivery.

Related Tags