Gov. Wolf announces 20 new centers to coordinate opioid addiction treatment
Pennsylvania will open 20 centers around the state by fall to coordinate care for people addicted to opioids, the Wolf administration announced Thursday.
The centers - six of them in Southeastern Pennsylvania - will not be new locations, but instead are existing organizations that will function as navigational hubs to coordinate a range of services for Medicaid patients. By integrating treatment for substance abuse, mental health, and physical health, their mission is to help ensure patients get all the types of care proven to promote recovery.
The concept, which is being tried in a handful of states, in some ways resembles the "medical home" model that has been gaining popularity in primary care.
Having a single provider take responsibility for coordinating a patient's needs is especially critical in the disjointed addiction treatment system. Patients who are released from detox but fail to follow up with medication-assisted treatment to lessen their craving for heroin, for example, are at very high risk of relapse and overdose.
Read more: http://www.philly.com/philly/health/20160715_Gov__Wolf_announces_20_new_centers_to_coordinate_opioid_addiction_treatment.html
