New York, Dec. 07, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Foundation for Opioid Response Efforts (FORE) today announced new funding to increase access to treatment for opioid use disorder, including medications and peer supports, in hospital emergency departments and public mental health clinics nationwide. California Bridge (CA Bridge) will receive $500,000 over two years to continue expanding access to life-saving medications for opioid use disorder in emergency departments in every state. RAND Corporation will receive $336,448 over two years to conduct a comprehensive review of the availability of medications for opioid use disorder in public mental health clinics nationwide and make recommendations for expanding treatment options for people with mental illness and concurrent substance use disorder.
Accelerating Emergency Departments Capacity to Fight the Opioid Crisis
Emergency department clinicians are often the first medical staff people recovering from an opioid overdose see. Yet less than 10 percent of emergency departments in the United States offer medications for opioid use disorder. With an initial grant of $600,000 from FORE in 2020, CA Bridge has become a national leader in offering technical assistance to clinicians, hospitals, and policymakers who are interested in expanding access to medications for opioid use disorder through emergency departments. CA Bridge has already consulted with hospitals in over 35 states, helping them identify and overcome impediments and implement a model of care which includes screening, initiating medications, peer support, and linkage to ongoing care. This new grant will help advance the goal of making quality treatment for opioid use disorder standard of care in every emergency department in every state.
This latest grant to CA Bridge continues FORE’s work to accelerate the ability of the nation’s emergency departments to fight the opioid crisis. In 2020, FORE launched the National Emergency Medicine Consortium, consisting of three grantees, the American College of Emergency Physicians/Emergency Medicine Foundation, CA Bridge at the Public Health Institute, and Get Waivered at Massachusetts General Hospital that have integrated their work into a single national initiative to significantly improve emergency department care of patients with opioid use disorder.
Engaging the Public Mental Health System
The public mental health system is a complex network of mental health agencies and professionals that provide services to all, regardless of their ability to pay. Many patients of these clinics may have opioid use disorder, along with co-occurring mental illnesses, however, medications for opioid use disorder treatment are seldom offered in these settings.
The RAND project will aim to better understand the current environment, barriers, and opportunities to expanding access to medications for opioid use disorder through the public mental health system. The RAND team will conduct a literature review, survey staff at 350 public mental health clinics nationwide, conduct in-depth interviews, hold interactive workshops, and test new strategies that could make treatment available to more patients.
“Emergency departments and public mental health clinics can serve as critical access points for connecting patients with opioid use disorder treatment, particularly those at high risk or with complex needs.” says Dr. Karen A. Scott, president of the Foundation for Opioid Response Efforts. “We are pleased to partner with CA Bridge and RAND to develop and implement solutions that can save lives.”
Foundation for Opioid Response Efforts (FORE)
FORE was founded in 2018 as a private 501(c)(3) national, grant-making foundation focused on addressing the nation’s opioid crisis. FORE is committed to funding a diversity of projects contributing solutions to the crisis at national, state, and community levels. FORE’s mission is to support partners advancing patient-centered, innovative, evidence-based solutions impacting people experiencing opioid use disorder, their families, and their communities. Through convening, grantmaking and developing informational resources, FORE seeks to bring about long-term change. To date, FORE has awarded 70 grants totaling $31.9 million.
California Bridge (CA Bridge)
California Bridge is a program of the Public Health Institute, one of the nation’s largest public health nonprofits. CA Bridge has led efforts to build capacity among hospitals to implement medications for opioid use disorder programs, share best practices, lower barriers to treatment, and make implementing medication for opioid use disorder services work in the real world of busy hospital emergency departments.
RAND Corporation
The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization that develops solutions to public policy challenges to help make communities throughout the world safe and more secure, healthier, and more prosperous. This FORE-funded project will be housed within RAND’s Health Care division which provides health care decisionmakers, practitioners, and consumers with actionable, rigorous, objective evidence to support their most complex decisions aimed at improving health care systems in the U.S. and other countries.
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