Medication-Assisted Treatment for Prescription Drug & Opioid Addiction

About the Program

Category: Human Services (Best in Category)

Year: 2020

The Medication-Assisted Treatment Prescription Drug & Opioid Addiction (MAT PDOA) Grant’s purpose is to increase access to Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) & recovery supports, in order to decrease opioid-related deaths. MAT is the gold standard of care for Opioid Use Disorder (OUD). Locally, Erie County Office of Drug & Alcohol manages the project & drives the innovative initiatives forward, in collaboration with four drug & alcohol (d/a) treatment providers. This program creatively improves constituent services & generates cost-savings by increasing access to MAT in clinic & primary care settings. Recovery-oriented supports are coordinated as well; some examples include therapies, peer-supports, & case management. Erie County Office of Drug & Alcohol also leads the local administrative functions of the project, such as community outreach, cross-system collaboration, & recovery training coordination. To date, examples of outcomes are: 268 health care professionals trained in Screening, Brief Intervention & Referral to Treatment (SBIRT), community outreach to thousands of local residents via health fairs/events, to 84 stakeholder organizations, & to 46 MAT prescribers, along with in-depth data collection with 41 individuals initiating MAT. The project began in 2017, at that time, there were 111 opioid-related fatal overdoses & by 2019 there were 69; a 38% decrease.