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Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Opportunities for Research on the Treatment of Substance Use Disorders in the Context of COVID-19

Educational Objective
To understand how COVID-19 has affected the research and treatment of substance use disorders

1 Credit CME

JAMA Psychiatry

Published Online: September 1, 2020

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Article Information and Disclosures

Carlos Blanco, MD, PhD¹;

Wilson M. Compton, MD, MPE¹;

Nora D. Volkow, MD¹

Author Affiliations

¹National Institute on Drug Abuse, Bethesda, Maryland

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Requirements for minimizing physical contact to reduce transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 have led to shifts in treatment and research on psychiatric disorders,¹^,2 including substance use disorders (SUDs). Notable have been increases in use of telehealth, changes to reimbursement for remote services, shifts in rules and regulations, impacts on vulnerable populations, and difficulties with data collection. These shifts provide an opportunity to evaluate which changes should remain after coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which should be reserved for crises, and which ones are deleterious.

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Article Information

Corresponding Author: Carlos Blanco, MD, PhD, Division of Epidemiology, Services and Prevention Research, National Institute on Drug Abuse, 6001 Executive Blvd, Bethesda, MD 20852 (carlos.blanco2@nih.gov).

Published Online: September 1, 2020. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2020.3177

Conflict of Interest Disclosures: Dr Compton reports long-term stock holdings from General Electric, 3M Company, and Pfizer outside the submitted work. No other disclosures were reported.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the authors and should not be construed to represent the views of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the National Institutes of Health, or any US government agency.

References

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Federation of State Medical Boards. COVID-19. Accessed June 14, 2020. https://www.fsmb.org/advocacy/covid-19

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Opioid Treatment Program (OTP) Guidance. Updated March 19, 2020. Accessed June 14, 2020. http://www.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/otp-guidance-20200316.pdf

Grimm CA . Geographic disparities affect access to buprenorphine services for opioid use disorder. US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General. Published January 2020. Accessed June 14, 2020. https://oig.hhs.gov/oei/reports/oei-12-17-00240.pdf

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid. List of telehealth services. Updated March 30, 2020. Accessed June 14, 2020. https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Medicare-General-Information/Telehealth/Telehealth-Codes

National Institutes of Health. Justice Community Opioid Innovation Network. Updated August 4, 2020. Accessed June 14, 2020.https://heal.nih.gov/research/research-to-practice/jcoin

Blanco C , Wiley TRA , Lloyd JJ , Lopez MF , Volkow ND . America’s opioid crisis: the need for an integrated public health approach. Transl Psychiatry. 2020;10(1):167. doi:10.1038/s41398-020-0847-1 PubMed Google Scholar Crossref

Powell BJ , Beidas RS . Advancing implementation research and practice in behavioral health systems. Adm Policy Ment Health. 2016;43(6):825-833. doi:10.1007/s10488-016-0762-1 PubMed Google Scholar Crossref

Kirchner JE , Smith JL , Powell BJ , Waltz TJ , Proctor EK . Getting a clinical innovation into practice: an introduction to implementation strategies. Psychiatry Res. 2020;283:112467. doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2019.06.042 PubMed Google Scholar

AMA CME Accreditation Information

Credit Designation Statement: The American Medical Association designates this Journal-based CME activity activity for a maximum of 1.00  AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Successful completion of this CME activity, which includes participation in the evaluation component, enables the participant to earn up to:

1.00 Medical Knowledge MOC points in the American Board of Internal Medicine's (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program;;
1.00 Self-Assessment points in the American Board of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery’s (ABOHNS) Continuing Certification program;
1.00 MOC points in the American Board of Pediatrics’ (ABP) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program;
1.00 Lifelong Learning points in the American Board of Pathology’s (ABPath) Continuing Certification program; and
1.00 CME points in the American Board of Surgery’s (ABS) Continuing Certification program

It is the CME activity provider's responsibility to submit participant completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting MOC credit.