Inpatient Addiction Consult Service

Substance use disorders are highly prevalent and are a large driver of costly inpatient medical care; however, historically the substance use disorder has gone unaddressed during an inpatient stay. Inpatient addiction consult services are an important intervention to use the reachable moment of hospitalization to engage patients and initiate addiction treatment. Addiction consultation involves taking an addiction-specific history, motivational interviewing, withdrawal symptom management, and initiation of long-term pharmacotherapy. Addiction consult services have the potential to decrease readmissions and utilization costs for medical systems and improve substance-related outcomes for patients.

Source: Medical Clinics of North America - June 20, 2018 Category: Primary Care Authors: Zoe M. Weinstein, Sarah E. Wakeman, Seonaid Nolan Source Type: research