West Virginia has been chosen as one of five states to partner with Shatterproof, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to ending the devastation of addiction, on the development and implementation of a rating system for addiction treatment programs.
During the 24-month pilot program, the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) will work with Shatterproof to align the rating system with ongoing initiatives in West Virginia to improve the quality of addiction treatment by ensuring care is delivered using evidence-based best practices.
“The substance use epidemic continues to impact individuals and families across West Virginia,” said DHHR Cabinet Secretary Bill J. Crouch. “We believe the results of this pilot program will enable us to ensure effective, quality substance use disorder services are offered across the state, which in turn, will benefit those who need our help to combat this problem.”
West Virginia has taken several important steps to address the opioid epidemic, including the creation of the Ryan Brown fund, which gave DHHR the responsibility to develop long term treatment beds and expand Quick Response Teams and LEAD programs, as well as Gov. Jim Justice’s pilot projects and his “Jobs in Making You Succeed” project.
“I’ve said for a long time that I’m completely committed to trying everything humanly possible to end the drug crisis in this state once and for all,” Gov. Justice said. “I’m excited about this partnership with Shatterproof because it’s another piece of the puzzle toward getting people the kind of high-quality help that is going to break the cycle of addiction. To do that, we must not only get our people access to treatment options and off drugs, but we also need to give them opportunities to get back into the workforce so they can stay off drugs for good and become productive members of society.”
The Shatterproof Rating System will be piloted in select states over two years with the goal of transforming the quality of addiction treatment based on eight core Principles of Care. They include universal screening for substance use disorders (SUD) across medical settings; rapid access to appropriate SUD care; personalized diagnosis, assessment and treatment; continuing long-term outpatient care; concurrent, coordinated care for physical and mental health; access to fully trained behavioral health professionals; access to FDA-approved medications; and access to non-medical recovery support services.
The pilot will apply public rating system best practices to the addiction treatment field by measuring the evidence-based elements of care delivery shown to improve patient outcomes. This information will be gathered from three sources: insurance claims, provider surveys, and consumer experience.
“The approach was developed based on the learnings from existing healthcare rating systems as well as public-facing systems that rate products and services ranging from restaurants to refrigerators. In health care, where this information can literally be the difference between life and death, the public can access data on hospitals, nursing homes, and many other provider types, but not yet addiction treatment services,” said Samantha Arsenault, Director of National Treatment Quality Initiatives at Shatterproof. “By collecting this data and making it transparent, we aim to align market forces with evidence-based addiction treatment. Regardless of where someone goes for addiction treatment, they should expect care consonant with core evidence-based medical practices, just as they would with other diseases.”
Upon successful completion of the two-year pilot, sustained implementation will continue in the pilot states in addition to a phased expansion across the country.
About Shatterproof
Shatterproof is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to ending the devastation the disease of addiction causes families. Shatterproof is focused on ending the stigma of addiction and ensuring treatment in America is based upon proven research. The organization advocates for changes to federal and state policy, payer reform, and provider ratings, and provides public education through family and workplace programs.