title: Treatment for substance use disorder: opportunities and challenges under the affordable care act.
abstract: Addiction is a chronic brain disease with consequences that remain problematic years after discontinuation of use. Despite this, treatment models focus on acute interventions and are carved out from the main health care system. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (2010) brings the opportunity to change the way substance use disorder (SUD) is treated in the United States. The treatment of SUD must adapt to a chronic care model offered in an integrated care system that screens for at-risk patients and includes services needed to prevent relapses. The partnering of the health care system with substance abuse treatment programs could dramatically expand the benefits of prevention and treatment of SUD. Expanding roles of health information technology and nonphysician workforces, such as social workers, are essential to the success of a chronic care model.
authors.affiliation: Center for the Clinical Trials Network, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. btai@nih.gov
authors.forename: Betty
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Tai
authors.forename: Nora D
authors.initials: ND
authors.lastname: Volkow
mesh_terms: D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000191:economics / Q000628:therapy; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care / Q000592:standards; D003661:Decision Support Techniques; D055317:Evidence-Based Practice; D006801:Humans; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D058991:Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; D011314:Preventive Health Services / Q000191:economics* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000458:organization & administration; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000191:economics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000458:organization & administration; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D012947:Social Work; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D000078329:Workforce