Nine outpatient addiction treatment organizations have launched a new industry advocacy organization focused on office-based outpatient treatment (OBOT).
Monikered the National Alliance for Comprehensive Addiction Treatment Solutions (NACATS), the nonprofit advocacy organization is led by Spero Health co-founder and CEO Steve Priest. He has taken on the role of president of the organization. In its early days it will focus on issues related to comprehensive addiction treatment, a mode of care that the organization posits is undermined by payer and government policies and underinvestment in such models.
“It’s really about developing a coalition or an alliance that can begin to have a voice … because we think, as clinical service providers, we need a seat at the table and, collectively, we’re big enough to have one,” Priest told Addiction Treatment Business.
Comprehensive addiction treatment, according to NACATS, includes addressing medical care, behavioral health, social supports and delivering it through both in-person and telehealth services.
The first companies to join NACATS are:
— BrightView
— CleanSlate Centers
— Crossroads Treatment Centers
— Ideal Option
— MATClinics
— Porch Light Health
— ReVIDA Recovery
— SaVida Health
— Spero Health
Collectively, the organizations operate over 550 facilities in 28 states that treat about 166,000 per year, with a concentration in Appalachian states, the Northwest and the Southwest.
“The best approach to addiction treatment is a comprehensive, evidence-based approach,”
Doug Weiss, CEO of Porch Light Health, said in a statement. “Unfortunately, payer and policy limitations often fall short of supporting the full range of services patients need. NACATS is working to bridge that gap by advocating for policies that prioritize high quality outcomes and provider sustainability.”
NACATS started to take meaningful shape over the past six months or so. While the organization will eventually expand to have more contributing members, the original corps of companies was kept relatively small to make the genesis of the organization and its priorities more wieldy, Priest told ATB.
Specifically, NACATS will advocate for payment innovations that ensure sustainability and stability for comprehensive treatment services. Priest likened this effort to getting something like the opioid treatment program (OTP) bundled weekly payment developed by Medicare and launched in 2020.
“We’re going to work in DC a little bit with [the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services], hopefully around creating a better model there, which we think can then trickle down to the states,” Priest said.
It will also push the industry to establish service packages that incorporate medication, behavioral health and social services. These service combos are to be informed by American Society for Addiction Medicine (ASAM) standards.
Finally, it will deliberate and develop universal metrics that assess care quality and effectiveness. They will be centered on “centered on transparency and accountability for patient outcomes.”
In pursuing these priorities, NACATS hopes to reduce barriers to care, improve addiction and mental health conditions, reduce recidivism and lessen the burden of addiction on the health care system.
The behavioral health organization lacks a centralized or consolidated advocacy apparatus like the American Medical Association and the American Hospital Association. More often, behavioral health organizations are recognizing the need for additional advocacy work. For example, the Plano, Texas-based psychiatric hospital system Oceans Healthcare helped organize the Texas Association of Behavioral Health Systems.
