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AHRQ: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

Substance Use Tools & Resources   

Read the Guide

This collection of tools and resources is for providers, staff, and patients who offer or use services to address substance use, and other interested stakeholders. This collection was originally established following an environmental scan on implementing medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for opioid use disorder (OUD) in rural primary care. (See PDFs of Volume 1 (PDF - 609 KB) and Volume 2 (PDF - 1.3 MB) of that scan). Items have been continuously added to this collection since then, and the collection has expanded to cover substance use more broadly, rather than just MAT for OUD.

Displaying 31 - 40 of 136

Financing the Future of Integrated Care: Tobacco Use Disorder Treatment (PDF - 253 KB)

The Tobacco Use Disorder Treatment Module supports organizations implementing evidence-based integrated care approaches that are specific to tobacco cessation. This module provides financing strategies for tobacco cessation that can be used in a variety of settings where physical and/or behavioral health services are provided.
Format
Report/Paper/Issue Brief
Audience
Behavioral Health Providers
Medical Providers
Other Team Members
Source
National Council for Mental Wellbeing
Year
Resource Type
PDF

Five Facts That Debunk Myths about the Opioid Crisis

The article reviews misinformation surrounding the opioid crisis and presents five facts that help to debunk these myths.
Format
Web Page
Audience
Behavioral Health Providers
Medical Providers
Communities
Patients
Source
Urban Institute
Year
Resource Type
Web Page

Greater Portland Health: Treating Patients at a Health Care for the Homeless Program in Maine (PDF - 193 KB)

This case study explores implementation of medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) through a federally qualified health center (FQHC) serving as a Health Care for the Homeless (HCH) program in Portland, Maine.
Format
Report/Paper/Issue Brief
Audience
Medical Providers
Behavioral Health Providers
Other Team Members
Policymakers and Payers
Source
Centers for Health Care Strategies (CHCS)
Year
Resource Type
PDF

Guide to Equity in Behavioral Health Care (PDF - 293 KB)

The guide discusses existing behavioral healthcare services in the United States and highlights barriers to care, stigma, and discrimination that exist. It also notes the overdose epidemic and services in place to combat it.
Format
Guide
Audience
Policymakers and Payers
States
Behavioral Health Providers
Source
Urban Institute
Year
Resource Type
PDF

Guide to Equity in Pharmacy Services (PDF - 223 KB)

This guide equips advocates and changemakers with key information about pharmacy services, including an overview of the system’s inequities, and highlights the policy and accountability levers that can advance equity.
Format
Guide
Audience
Policymakers and Payers
Communities
Medical Providers
Source
Urban Institute
Year
Resource Type
PDF

Guide to Equity in the Veterans Health Administration (PDF - 157 KB)

This guide equips advocates with key information about the Veterans Health Administration, including an overview of the system’s inequities, and highlights the policy and accountability levers that can advance equity.
Format
Guide
Audience
Behavioral Health Providers
Policymakers and Payers
Medical Providers
Source
Urban Institute
Year
Resource Type
PDF

How Are States Spending Opioid Settlement Cash? We Built a Database of Answers

KFF Health News, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and Shatterproof compiled a database of publicly reported opioid settlement expenditures in 2022 and 2023. States were invited to review the data collected about their spending and share with the public a brief response or explanation about their approach to the money.
Format
Web Page
Audience
States
Source
KFF Health News
Year
Resource Type
Web Page

Innovation in Behavioral Health (IBH) Model

The web page highlights a new payment model from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for innovation in behavioral health. The model will focus on improving the quality of care and behavioral and physical health outcomes and will begin on January 1, 2025.
Format
Web Page
Audience
Policymakers and Payers
States
Source
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
Year
Resource Type
Web Page

Meaningfully Partnering With Harm Reduction Organizations and Other Community-based Organizations That Serve People Who Use Drugs (PDF - 610 KB)

This tool highlights another valuable method for health departments to ensure the inclusion of People With Lived or Living Experience (PWLLE): establishing grantmaking programs and developing meaningful partnerships with community-based organizations (CBOs) that are led for and by PWLLE, including harm reduction organizations. The target audience for this tool includes all staff within substance use-related departments.

Format
Report/Paper/Issue Brief
Audience
Medical Providers
Behavioral Health Providers
Communities
Source
National Council for Mental Wellbeing
Year
Resource Type
PDF

Medicaid Coverage of Medications to Reverse Opioid Overdose and Treat Alcohol and Opioid Use Disorders (PDF - 2.8 MB)

This report provides an update on the present state of coverage, availability of, and access to, medications for treating ongoing alcohol use disorder and opioid use disorder, and reversing an opioid overdose within state Medicaid plans.
Format
Report/Paper/Issue Brief
Audience
Policymakers and Payers
States
Medical Providers
Behavioral Health Providers
Other Team Members
Source
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
Year
Resource Type
PDF