Health Equity: How do we do better in addictions treatment?

Equity means proactively going above and beyond to remove barriers and empower those who have not been given equal opportunity to achieve optimal health and thrive. This is especially important in addiction treatment where we serve individuals who face deadly stigma and numerous barriers as a result of their illness, and often have been subjected to a health care system that does not take accountability for addressing the harms that result.  The stigma and barriers are compounded for individuals from historically marginalized communities who experience unequal access to evidence-based care, higher rates of criminalization,discrimination, racism and socioeconomic inequities that lead to increased morbidity, poor outcomes and higher rates of death.  If we truly want to begin to close health disparities, we must approach mental health care through the lens of the quintuple aim: improved health outcomes for individuals and the overall population we serve, superior patient and staff experience and reduced total cost of care, all delivered equitably.  To do so, meaningful policy changes, reimbursement changes, data capture and utilization, and a shift in clinical practice must occur.  

Fee-For-Service reimbursement drives health disparities by incentivizing a volume-based, disjointed behavioral healthcare system that has not been held to any of the commitments of the quintuple aim.  We must set out to change this by transforming the way behavioral health care is delivered and paid for. True equitable healthcare centers the voice of the person-served, meaning providers must be quantifying impact on patient reported outcomes (PROMS) including depression, anxiety, substance craving, social drivers of health and satisfaction with care.   Finally, if we seek to close health disparity gaps, we must be able to quantify those gaps which means capturing REaL data and risk stratifying populations based on their environmental, biological and psychological factors.  

In this session, we will talk about practical strategies for getting started towards the goal of equitable addiction treatment care.