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Opioid Consortium Hospitals Working to Increase MAT Utilization

The opioid crisis has stretched the resources of a system that is working to care for a dramatically larger number of patients who are suffering from opioid use disorder. To address this, hospital members of the Northeast Ohio Hospital Opioid Consortium are engaged in a wide variety of efforts to increase MAT utilization, making medication-assisted treatment (MAT) available to more patients who need it. From mentoring programs to requiring providers to obtain the training and waiver necessary to provide MAT, read on to learn more about what hospitals are doing to improve MAT utilization.

TWEETABLE: This month #TheCenterSpotlights 🔦 Northeast Ohio Hospital #OpioidConsortium members working to increase MAT utilization, a critical tool in the fight against the #opioidcrisis. 

About MAT

MAT is an evidence-based approach to helping patients manage opioid addiction through the use of FDA-approved medications, in combination with counseling and behavioral therapies. The Drug Addiction Treatment Act of 2000 (DATA 2000) requires physicians prescribing MAT to complete eight hours of training and obtain a waiver. Nurse practitioners and physician assistants, under the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) of 2016, also may obtain a waiver after completing eight hours of MAT training plus an additional 16 hours of specialized training.

Northeast Ohio Hospital Efforts

Hospitals in the region have been working closely with physicians and other providers to increase the number of those who are trained to provide MAT. 

At Cleveland Clinic, an emphasis has been placed on leveraging the expertise of experienced MAT providers by providing mentoring opportunities. The organization’s trained providers offer guidance and answer questions from those seeking to strengthen skills and build knowledge in treating patients with opioid addiction. 

With two expert waiver trainers, The MetroHealth System has been active in providing waiver training as well as in hosting state trainings. MetroHealth also requires all family practice providers to be waiver trained, and the hospital has a nurse practitioner dedicated to supporting waivered physicians in the emergency department, where one-third of ED providers are waiver trained. Recently, MetroHealth hired an addiction specialist to lead the program and soon will have two more board-certified addiction-trained physicians.

The VA Northeast Ohio Healthcare System has a strong model for increasing its number of MAT providers. All nurse practitioners and psychiatrists in the VA’s Opioid Treatment Program, in both the medical center and the surrounding clinics, have been trained in providing Suboxone treatment. The hospital requires trained providers to participate in MAT by including it as a component of performance appraisals and also holds regular monthly meetings to review cases and literature trends to stay abreast of and making sure patients are receiving the most effective treatment protocols.

This month, University Hospitals is seeking to increase its number of MAT-trained providers by hosting a 1.5-day free training by the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) and the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (OhioMHAS). This course includes the required eight-hour MAT training plus an additional four hours required by the state of Ohio in order to receive reimbursement. 

St. Vincent Charity Medical Center, which provides a wide spectrum of treatment for substance abuse through Rosary Hall, has an addiction medicine fellowship certified by the American Board of Addiction Medicine. This program allows physicians to be trained as addiction medicine specialists who will be board certified by the American Board of Addiction Medicine. This program has trained over 30 addiction medicine fellows, most in collaboration with University Hospitals and the VA Northeast Ohio Healthcare System.

Hospital efforts to increase MAT utilization align with the Opioid Consortium’s strategic objectives and the results of a research analysis by The Center for Health Affairs that sheds light on common barriers to MAT access.

MORE: For more on the Northeast Ohio Hospital Opioid Consortium, contact us.