Increasing Equity in Pain Management, Substance Use Disorder Treatment, and Linkages to CARE

Building internal capacity to provide SUD treatment and pain management Meaningful linkage to care may not be an option for health centers located in areas with limited resources and referral agencies. Furthermore, patients may not have insurance coverage for the recommended referrals. To meet patient needs and achieve health equity, health centers may need to focus instead on building internal capacity to provide services to their patients. Capacity-building goals for SUD treatment and pain management could include: ❚ Training the primary care team to prescribe medication for opioid use and alcohol use disorders (e.g., buprenorphine and naltrexone), in combination with counseling and behavioral therapies ❚ Building an integrative pain management program ❚ Integrating behavioral health services with primary care Meaningful Linkage to Care and Capacity Building Meaningful Linkage to Care Linking People with Opioid Use Disorder to Medication Treatment: A Technical Package of Policy, Programs, and Practices. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Motivational interviewing to Help Your Patients Seek Treatment. CDC Motivational interviewing Training Module. CDC Motivational interviewing Network of Trainers. Motivational interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT) Warm Handoff: Intervention . Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Capacity Building Behavioral Health Integration. JBS International Center of Excellence for Integrated Health Solutions. National Council for Mental Wellbeing Integrating Behavioral Health and Primary Care Playbook. AHRQ RESOURCES

ONE THING YOU CAN DO TODAY

Reflect on the last referral you made for a patient. Would you characterize the referral as meaningful linkage to care? If not, what else could be done to improve linkage for this patient or future patients?

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