Population Health Approach to Opioid Use Disorder: Can It Change The Game?

This ASAM Focus Presentation will articulate the impact that Population Health Management can play in the care of patients with Opioid Use Disorder (OUD). In the past decade, the delivery of care for OUD has gained substantial strides in the development of educational material for medical residents and medical school students; provider training, engagement, and certification; an increasing emphasis on early diagnosis and preventative care; and early efforts in behavioral health integration with physical health care delivery models. Nonetheless, we continue to witness high rates of drug-related overdose fatalities and acute drug-related events. In the face of these negative outcomes, there is increasing recognition of the role that Population Health can play in OUD management.In this Focus Session, we will introduce core Population Health principles to include: 1) care management and coordination through use of digital technology and integrated services, 2) the use of data analytics to risk stratify patients by leveraging real-time laboratory testing, social determinants of health data, care assessment findings and known comorbidities, 3) health maintenance strategies through patient engagement opportunities such as computer-assisted cognitive behavioral therapy, and related applications and 4) the reliance on an outcomes-based care delivery model that can be tracked and used in direct patient care. We will demonstrate how these core principles can transform the field of OUD management. Patients with OUD are uniquely poised to benefit from a Population Health-based approach. Population Health Management initiatives are particularly effective in diseases or conditions with high prevalence, high utilization of acute care services, valid, but insufficiently leveraged care, options and where risk-stratification and care coordination efforts have proven value. With the high prevalence of OUD and its corresponding rising incidence in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, substantial resources are needed to combat this epidemic with a pandemic. Given the high cost and high needs in this complex patient population, Population Health Management tools are well-suited to augment direct patient care delivery.