Addiction medicine

About: Addiction medicine is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 1070 publications have been published within this topic receiving 23685 citations.

Planning and Designing the Improving Addiction Care Team (IMPACT) for Hospitalized Adults with Substance Use Disorder.

Abstract: People with substance use disorders (SUD) have high rates of hospitalization and readmission, long lengths of stay, and skyrocketing healthcare costs. Yet, models for improving care are extremely limited. We performed a needs assessment and then convened academic and community partners, including a hospital, community SUD organizations, and Medicaid accountable care organizations, to design a care model for medically complex hospitalized patients with SUD. Needs assessment showed that 58% to 67% of participants who reported active substance use said they were interested in cutting back or quitting. Many reported interest in medication for addiction treatment (MAT). Participants had high rates of costly readmissions and longer than expected length of stay. Community stakeholders identified long wait times and lack of resources for medically complex patients as key barriers. We developed the Improving Addiction Care Team (IMPACT), which includes an inpatient addiction medicine consultation service, rapid-access pathways to posthospital SUD treatment, and a medically enhanced residential care model that integrates antibiotic infusion and residential addiction care. We developed a business case and secured funding from Medicaid and hospital payers. IMPACT provides one pathway for hospitals, payers, and communities to collaboratively address the SUD epidemic. Journal of Hospital Medicine 2017;12:339-342.

The definition of alcoholism. The Joint Committee of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence and the American Society of Addiction Medicine to Study the Definition and Criteria for the Diagnosis of Alcoholism.

Abstract: To establish a more precise use of the term alcoholism, a 23-member multidisciplinary committee of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence and the American Society of Addiction Medicine conducted a 2-year study of the definition of alcoholism in the light of current concepts. The goals of the committee were to create by consensus a revised definition that is (1) scientifically valid, (2) clinically useful, and (3) understandable by the general public. Therefore, the committee agreed to define alcoholism as a primary, chronic disease with genetic, psychosocial, and environmental factors influencing its development and manifestations. The disease is often progressive and fatal. It is characterized by impaired control over drinking, preoccupation with the drug alcohol, use of alcohol despite adverse consequences, and distortions in thinking, most notably denial. Each of these symptoms may be continuous or periodic.

The process addictions and the new ASAM definition of addiction.

Abstract: Addiction is a primary, chronic disease involving brain reward, motivation, memory and related circuitry; it can lead to relapse, progressive development, and the potential for fatality if not treated. While pathological use of alcohol and, more recently, psychoactive substances have been accepted as addictive diseases, developing brain science has set the stage for inclusion of the process addictions, including food, sex, shopping and gambling problems, in a broader definition of addiction as set forth by the American Society of Addiction Medicine in 2011.

Addiction Medicine Consultations Reduce Readmission Rates for Patients With Serious Infections From Opioid Use Disorder.

Abstract: The opioid epidemic has increased hospital admissions for serious infections related to opioid abuse. Our findings demonstrate that addiction medicine consultation is associated with increased treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD), greater likelihood of completing antimicrobial therapy, and reduced readmission rates among patients with OUD and serious infections requiring hospitalization.