The healthcare industry faces many challenges—and the solutions are not always straightforward. Each month, Modern Healthcare asks leaders in the field to share their thoughts on industry conundrums.
This week, we’ll hear from Dr. Kenneth Stoller, director of the Johns Hopkins Broadway Addiction Center, and Marvin Ventrell, CEO of the National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers, about some of the barriers to continuing. continue to impede access to addiction treatment and policies that can help address them.
What do you see as the main obstacle to accessing care?
salesman: The main barrier now is very difficult [for providers] to find employees. That’s part of the problem with people coming out of school and not choosing specifically for substance use disorder treatment. Some of it is due to stigma, because the stigma against people with substance use disorders extends to treatments and includes those who provide treatments. This.
ventilation: The stigma is high on the list. Addiction continues to evoke a kind of moral judgment, although medical science has no doubt that it is a brain disease—a disease with psychosocial manifestations. That’s true for most behavioral health issues, but addiction comes with a formidable stigma, suggesting that something is wrong with a person’s personality if they’re struggling with it. So people are embarrassed to seek help.
What’s in your policy agenda to improve access and speed recovery?
salesman: I will focus on providing more supportive housing. I can’t imagine our success [with substance use treatment] like anywhere near now if we weren’t able to accommodate patients who were homeless or lived with people who continued to use [drugs]. It is essential in the early stages of recovery and then also with access to programs that support vocational services.
ventilation: On public policy and law, federal enforcement [coverage] Parity law is the most important issue my association deals with on Capitol Hill. Health care requires public or private insurance payments. The problem with addiction treatment is that it is often not covered by insurance. And when that’s the case, insurance companies often deny coverage in violation of our parity laws.
Is there a specific population you are interested in related to addiction?
salesman: Young people are definitely at a higher risk of overdose based on the data I’ve seen, so we need to pay attention to that. The LGBTQ+ community also has a higher risk of substance abuse and overdose. And overall, our population is aging. As people with substance use disorders get older, we need to think a lot about how to support their recovery.
ventilation: People of color are the least underserved, but addiction knows no demographic boundaries. Alcohol use disorder is still the biggest killer [tied to addiction] because it contributes to a lot of health conditions. The government focuses on opiates because they are deadly and that’s true, but the focus should be on addiction in general. The problem with alcohol is that it kills you slowly. Opioids kill you fast.
