Deploying The Cascade Of Care Framework To Address The Opioid Epidemic Means Taking A Closer Look At Quality Measures

In a March 13, 2017, Health Affairs Blog post, Arthur Robin Williams, Edward Nunes, and Mark Olfson propose repurposing the “Cascade of Care” framework, once used to combat the HIV/AIDS crisis, to fight the opioid epidemic. Williams and colleagues propose developing performance measures to track the success of the state grants across the five framework stages: Diagnosis among those affected Linkage to care among those diagnosed Medication initiation among those entering care Retention for at least six months among those initiating medication Continuous abstinence among those retained We applaud Williams and colleagues for highlighting the concept of the cascade of care as a useful framework to address the opioid epidemic. To make this vision a reality, there are important steps that need to be taken to develop the framework’s quality measures and how to use the measures to guide work with states, managed care organizations, localities, treatment providers, recovery support services, and others to end the opioid crisis. Drawing On Federal Data Systems Data for the cascade of care can draw on existing federal data collection systems. For example, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) is the primary source for information on the prevalence of substance use disorders including opioid use disorders. Although federal data systems do not currently capture information on whether an individual with an o...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - Category: Health Management Authors: Tags: Featured Health Policy Lab Population Health Public Health Quality Cascade of Care data collection systems opioid epidemic Substance Use Disorders tracking and delivery system Source Type: blogs