Four substance use disorder (SUD) treatment facilities owned by Crossroads Treatment Centers have allegedly knowingly submitted false and fraudulent claims to Medicaid from 2016 to mid-2023.  The company is now set to pay $863,934 in a civil settlement with the U.S. and the Commonwealth of Virginia. “Submitting false claims to Medicaid undermines the integrity of […]

More than 75% of U.S. overdose deaths involve opioids. Yet, medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), including buprenorphine and methadone, are severely underused.  Integrating MOUD into follow-up care for patients hospitalized with serious injection-related infections could increase access to these lifesaving medications, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open.  Serious injection-related infections (SIRIs) […]

Addiction treatment provider Aware Recovery has raised $3.5 million of new capital in a round led by Connecticut Innovations. This comes roughly a year after the provider announced a $35 million Series B funding round. Aware Recovery offers in-home substance use disorder (SUD) care. The provider is able to treat people with alcohol, opioid and […]

Patients diagnosed with both opioid use disorder (OUD) and a psychiatric condition can experience decades-long delays before receiving treatment and significant barriers to care.  A new partnership between OUD treatment provider Ophelia and hybrid mental health provider Thriveworks is seeking to provide an accessible pipeline to care for patients with co-occurring OUD and psychiatric disorders. […]

Despite the growing need for substance use disorder (SUD) treatment, physicians remain reluctant to treat addiction. That’s according to a new systematic review published in JAMA, which included a total of 283 articles. Researchers found that the most common reason doctors were reluctant to intervene in addiction was the institutional environment. Authors of the study […]

Building a new substance use disorder (SUD) facility can significantly improve a community’s access to much-needed behavioral health care. However, stigma and misconceptions can lead to significant local backlash.  For SUD providers, neighborhood pushback can lead to lengthy, expensive legal and regulatory processes. Restrictive zoning policies paired with a lack of community support can prevent […]

Ethema Health Corporation (OTCQB: GRST) has agreed to buy Kentucky-based alcohol and substance use disorder (SUD) provider Edgewater Recovery Center. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.  Florida-based Ethema had previously set a target of expanding to 500 beds by the end of 2025. The deal significantly exceeds that goal, boosting the provider’s capacity […]

As fentanyl proliferates the illicit drug market and opioid-related overdoses surge, access to the life-saving medication methadone is more critical than ever. Efforts to increase access to take-home methadone have paid off, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) cemented COVID-era flexibilities earlier this year. For substance use disorder (SUD) treatment providers […]

Primary care providers have increasingly offered patients medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) since the Drug Addiction Treatment Act (DATA) of 2000 allowed certain physicians outside of the psychiatry field to prescribe these medications. Low-barrier access to MOUDs, including naltrexone and buprenorphine, can play a meaningful role in combating the opioid use epidemic, which resulted […]

Five U.S. states are now allowed to provide incarcerated people with coverage for substance use disorder (SUD) care and other services before their release. Medicaid traditionally does not provide SUD treatment to otherwise eligible people who are incarcerated in jails, prisons or youth correctional facilities. Now, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) […]