Improving the Effectiveness of Addiction Treatment
Problem One: There’s Been No Improvement in the Effectiveness of Addiction Treatment in 30 Years
Today, only 36% of individuals are meeting their drug and alcohol usage goals one year after leaving behavioral therapy-based addiction treatment. Shockingly, this percentage has remained unchanged since 1993:
Unfortunately, due to the absence of outcomes research, we don’t know how many individuals starting the second major type of addiction treatment, medication-supported treatment, are meeting their drug and alcohol usage goals one year later. Since these medications are intended to be used long-term and research shows that only about 42% of individuals take their methadone or buprenorphine for at least one month[i], the recovery rate for individuals starting medication-assisted treatment is unlikely to be any higher than 36%.
Problem Two: Recovery Rates Vary Tremendously by Rehab & by Payer
The percent of patients who report meeting their alcohol and drug use goals one year after behavioral therapy-focused treatment range from 18% to 54% for patients attending different rehabs and from 14% to 50% for patients with different health insurance payers. Neither rehabs nor payers are being held accountable for their effectiveness:
Solution: The Conquer Addiction Moonshot™
Mission: Improve the percentage of patients in recovery
one year after an episode of treatment by 50% by 2030
To maximize the likelihood that an episode of treatment will lead to recovery, an individual needs to know three things:
The type of treatment most likely to be effective for that individual based upon their drug use history and other factors
Where they can find an effective treatment center providing that type of treatment
That their health insurance will pay for a sufficient amount of treatment at an effective center offering that type of treatment
The Conquer Addiction Moonshot will answer these questions at scale in two ways:
Comprehensive outcomes research will be conducted among patients attending a variety of medication-assisted treatment centers that is directly comparable to the extensive research already collected for patients attending rehabs using behavioral therapy. By comparing the recovery rates of individuals with different drug use histories and demographic factors attending various types of treatment, we will be able to start predicting the type of treatment most likely to be successful for a specific individual.
A longitudinal registry of claims data for individuals who’ve been in substance use disorder treatment will be created using claims data donated by employer groups. Subpoena-proof and accessible only by select researchers, the claims database will identify:
Treatment centers with excellent recovery rates offering each type of treatment
Health insurance payers whose members have high recovery rates
Market forces will hold rehabs and payers accountable for their outcomes:
Rehabs and payers who are proud of their success rates will be able to publicly share their results on the Conquer Addiction website, thus making treatment providers and health insurance payers accountable for their outcomes for the first time.
Similar to the Cancer Moonshot, the Conquer Addiction Moonshot will bring together a community of providers, employers, payers, researchers, pharma, and patient advocates to work together to help more people recover from addiction.
How Individuals Struggling with Addiction Will Benefit
Please Join Us!
Can your employer/union donate claims data? Can you help fund this project? Are you knowledgeable about analyzing claims data? Let us know how you can help by emailing info@conquer-addiction.org.
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