Care Study on Alcohol and Drug Dependence

Drugs and alcohol dependence can become a chronic problem like smoking and depression. Many health systems are looking to treat these conditions by implementing coordinated chronic care management. A new study examined whether substance abuse improved after providing this care to patients with addiction. “People with addictions receive among the worst quality care in the health system.” Dr. Richard Saitz and co-authors studied people with alcohol and drug dependence.  For one year, half the group saw a physician and received information on where to get additional help for their addiction. The other group received on-going help from a nurse care manager, internist, social worker and psychiatrist. “Chronic care management did not improve outcomes for people with alcohol or other drug dependence. It didn’t improve abstinence from opioids, cocaine, heavy alcohol use, addiction severity, health care utilization and health related quality of life.” The study appears in the Journal of the American Medical Association.