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Article
Illegal Opioids Are Hurting Too Many of Us. We Need a New Approach
Fatal overdoses are on the rise in the United States, with the proliferation of potent, synthetic opioids like illicit fentanyl. But deaths are just the tip of America's iceberg-sized opioid crisis. To save and improve lives, policymakers will need to take a holistic approach. People who use opioids and their families should be at the heart of this new response.
Mar 16, 2023
News Release
Admissions to Drug Treatment Programs Fell Sharply During the First Year of the Pandemic
Admissions to drug treatment programs declined by nearly one-quarter during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the cuts steepest among people of color.
Sep 22, 2022

Explore Substance Use Disorder Treatment

Journal Article
Trends in Methadone Dispensing for Opioid Use Disorder After Medicare Payment Policy Changes
A new Medicare policy may have improved access to methadone and buprenorphine treatment for Medicare beneficiaries with a diagnosed opioid use disorder (OUD) during the COVID-19 pandemic, but further research is needed to determine its impact.
Jun 2, 2023
Journal Article
Geographical Access to Specialized Behavioral Health Treatment Programs for U.S. Active Duty Service Members and Military Families from Military Installations
The purpose of this study is to determine geographical access to specialized behavioral health programs tailored to active duty U.S. service members and military families from military installations.
Jun 1, 2023
News Release
State Policies Requiring Education for Buprenorphine Prescribers Boosts Use of Opioid Use Disorder Treatment
States that want to increase access to buprenorphine, a lifesaving medication used to treat opioid use disorder, should consider efforts to enhance professional education and clinician knowledge.
May 26, 2023
News Release
Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder Rises After Medicare Expands Coverage for Methadone
The use of methadone among Medicare beneficiaries to treat opioid use disorder increased sharply after the program began covering the drug, with evidence suggesting the change created new treatment rather than displacing use of other medications.
May 19, 2023
Journal Article
Buprenorphine Treatment Episodes During the First Year of COVID: A Retrospective Examination of Treatment Initiation and Retention
Buprenorphine treatment remained stable during the pandemic, however the flow of individuals receiving treatment changed significantly, indicating that policy efforts were successful in maintaining existing patients, but did not extend to new patients.
May 2, 2023
Journal Article
Association Between Hospital Adoption of an Emergency Department Treatment Pathway for Opioid Use Disorder and Patient Initiation of Buprenorphine After Discharge
Researchers evaluated the association between hospitals attesting to an emergency department buprenorphine treatment Opioid Hospital Quality Improvement Program (O-HQIP) pathway and patients' subsequent initiation of buprenorphine treatment.
Apr 20, 2023
Journal Article
Trends in Geographic Proximity to Substance Use Disorder Treatment
This study aims to assess trends in the number and characteristics of substance use disorder treatment (SUDT) facilities within the county of residence of adults aged 50+ over time.
Apr 18, 2023
Report
Behavioral Health Care Following the Onset of the Pandemic
In what ways did the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic change how behavioral health care was delivered to service members with PTSD, depression, or substance use disorder?
Mar 20, 2023
News Release
U.S. Opioid Crisis Best Viewed as Connected Ecosystem; Changing Policymakers' Approach Can Aid Solutions
The nation's opioid crisis, which kills thousands of Americans annually, is best viewed as an ecosystem where all parts of the vexing problem are interconnected, underscoring the need for holistic solutions that address the broad needs of those with substance use disorders, their families, and the communities where they live.
Mar 16, 2023
Report
America's Opioid Ecosystem
Patterns and consequences of opioid use are changing dramatically. Researchers provide a nuanced assessment of America's opioid ecosystem, highlighting how leveraging system interactions can reduce addiction, overdose, suffering, and other harms.
Mar 16, 2023
Visualization
The Ecosystem Approach to Opioid Policy
RAND researchers created a tool to help federal, state, and local policymakers better understand issues surrounding opioids as an ecosystem—and explore innovative policy ideas.
Mar 16, 2023
Tool
CLARO Intervention User Manual: A Guide for Care Teams and Individual Practitioners
The Collaboration Leading to Addiction Treatment and Recovery from Other Stresses research study advances collaborative care treatment for patients who have opioid use disorder with major depressive disorder and/or posttraumatic stress disorder.
Mar 10, 2023
Journal Article
Association of Polysubstance Use Disorder with Treatment Quality Among Medicaid Beneficiaries with Opioid Use Disorder
Ongoing progress toward increasing access to and quality of evidence-based treatment for OUD requires further efforts to ensure that individuals with co-occurring SUDs are engaged and retained in effective treatment.
Mar 10, 2023
Journal Article
Screening for Opioid Use Disorder and Co-Occurring Depression and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Primary Care in New Mexico
This study helps quantify the extent of diagnostic and treatment service gaps for opioid use disorder and co-occurring mental health disorders in primary care settings serving rural and socioeconomically disadvantaged patients in New Mexico.
Mar 10, 2023
Journal Article
Collaboration Leading to Addiction Treatment and Recovery from Other Stresses (CLARO): Process of Adapting Collaborative Care for Co-Occurring Opioid Use and Mental Disorders
To address a treatment and quality gap, RAND researchers adapted collaborative care for co-occurring opioid use disorder and mental health disorders.
Mar 10, 2023
Journal Article
Design of CLARO (Collaboration Leading to Addiction Treatment and Recovery from Other Stresses): A Randomized Trial of Collaborative Care for Opioid Use Disorder and Co-Occurring Depression And/Or Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
This article describes the CLARO collaborative care for co-occurring disorders intervention and clinical trial.
Mar 10, 2023
News Release
Frequent Alcohol Testing Combined with Swift and Certain Sanctions Is Associated with Lower Death Rates
A statewide alcohol-monitoring program that requires people arrested for drunk driving and other alcohol-involved offenses to be tested frequently for alcohol use can reduce the likelihood that participants die for several years after their involvement with the program.
Mar 1, 2023
Journal Article
The Role of Pre-Treatment Traumatic Stress Symptoms in Adolescent Substance Use Treatment Outcomes
This study assesses the association between traumatic stress symptoms and substance use treatment outcomes among trauma-exposed adolescents, using methods to reduce potential confounding from factors such as baseline substance use severity.
Feb 21, 2023
Journal Article
The Opioid Use Disorder Core Outcomes Set (OUD–COS) for Treatment Research: Findings from a Delphi Consensus Study
The aim of this study was to develop the US National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network (CTN) opioid use disorder core outcomes set (OUD–COS).
Feb 21, 2023
Journal Article
Prior Authorization Restrictions on Medications for Opioid Use Disorder: Trends in State Laws from 2005 to 2019
Researchers conducted a review of U.S. regulations and statutes between 2005 and 2019 related to medications for opioid use disorder to identify the frequency and types of prior authorization prohibitions in state laws.
Feb 9, 2023

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RAND Topic:
Substance Use Disorder Treatment

Research conducted by

Researcher Spotlight

Alex Sizemore

Ph.D. Student, Pardee RAND Graduate School, and Assistant Policy Researcher, RAND

Alex Sizemore (she/they) is a Ph.D. student in the Community-Partnered Policy and Action stream at Pardee RAND Graduate School and an assistant policy analyst at RAND. She has an M.A. in urban planning from the University of Southern California, an M.A. in curatorial studies from the University…
Megan S. Schuler

Policy Researcher

Megan Schuler is an applied statistician at the RAND Corporation. Her research focuses on substance use and mental health disorders and methodologically on causal inference methods which facilitate rigorous analysis of observational health data. As a co-investigator affiliated with the RAND…

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