justice and adult corrections services that
receive public funding; and that patients
who screen positive for risky use or a
potential diagnosis of addiction be
connected with a trained health professional
for intervention, diagnosis, treatment and
disease management. Develop tools to improve service quality.
Federal and state governments in
collaboration with professional associations,
accrediting organizations and other non-
profit organizations focusing on health care
quality should develop and disseminate
evidence-based tools, practice guidelines
and performance measures oriented toward
patient outcomes to improve the quality of
addiction care (involving all substances) and
require their implementation as a condition
of continued licensure and/or accreditation.
License addiction treatment facilities as
health care providers. Federal, state and
local governments should subject all
addiction treatment facilities and programs
to the same mandatory licensing processes
as other health care facilities.
Require adherence to national
accreditation standards that reflect
evidence-based care. As a condition of
licensure, federal, state and local
governments should stipulate that all
facilities and programs providing addiction
treatment adhere to established national
minimum standards for accreditation.
Require that all insurers provide
coverage for comprehensive addiction
care. Require that all health insurers--
public and private--provide coverage for all
insured individuals for patient education,
screening and intervention for risky
substance use and treatment and
management of addiction (involving all
substances associated with addiction)
consistent with standards of medical
practice, eliminating exemptions. As a
condition of reimbursement, public payers
and private insurance companies should be
mandated to require that all addiction
interventions and treatment be directly
provided, supervised or managed by trained
medical professionals. Public payers and
private health insurance companies should
encourage participating providers and
facilities to adopt evidence-based practices,
institute quality-improvement measures and
assess patient outcomes. To help ensure
comprehensive coverage and appropriate
medical care, the Uniform Accident and
Sickness Policy Provision Law (UPPL),
which bars insurance coverage for injuries
sustained by a person who was under the
influence of alcohol or other drugs at the
time of the injury, should be eliminated. Expand the addiction medicine
workforce. Accelerate the work begun by
the American Board of Addiction Medicine
Foundation to develop residency training
programs in addiction medicine and secure
residency accreditation from the
Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical
Education (ACGME). Pursue and gain
recognition of addiction medicine by the
American Board of Medical Specialties
(ABMS). Support the efforts of ACGME-
accredited addiction psychiatry residencies
to increase the number of enrolled residents.
Through these actions, assure that addiction
medicine training programs are available to
physicians, that training opportunities within
addiction psychiatry are expanded, and that
such specialty care is formally recognized
and available in every hospital throughout
the country and through every health care
system. Implement a national public health
campaign. Implement a nationwide public
health campaign through federal agencies
charged with protecting the public health to
educate the public about all forms of risky
substance use and addiction. Invest in research and data collection.
Invest in research designed to improve and
track progress in addiction prevention,
treatment and disease management and to
find a cure for addiction.