title: Maintenance of access as demand for substance use disorder treatment grows.
abstract: Due to the Affordable Care Act and other recent laws and regulations, funding for substance use disorder (SUD) treatment is on the rise. In the 2000s, the Veterans Health Administration (VA) implemented several initiatives that increased funding for SUD treatment during a period of growth in demand for it. A key question is whether access to and intensity of treatment kept pace or declined. Using VA SUD treatment funding data and patient-level records to construct performance measures, we studied the relationship between funding and access during the VA expansion. Overall, we observed an increase in access to and intensity of VA SUD care associated with increased funding. The VA was able to increase funding for and expand the population to which it offered SUD treatment without diminishing internal access and intensity.
authors: Healthcare Financing & Economics, VA Boston Healthcare System and School of Medicine, Boston University, 150 S. Huntington Ave, Boston, MA 02130 USA. Electronic address: frakt@bu.edu.
authors: Austin B
authors: AB
authors: Frakt
authors: Center for Innovation to Implementation, VA Palo Alto Healthcare System, Menlo Park CA, USA.
authors: Jodie
authors: J
authors: Trafton
authors: Healthcare Financing & Economics, VA Boston Healthcare System and School of Pharmacy and Department of Economics, Northeastern University, Boston, MA.
authors: Steven D
authors: SD
authors: Pizer
mesh_terms: D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000191:economics / Q000628:therapy*; D014481:United States; D014493:United States Department of Veterans Affairs / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
keywords: Process quality; Substance use disorder treatment; Veterans; Veterans Health Administration