Jun 15, 2020
The California Department of Public Health, Office of AIDS, and California Department of Health Care Services are jointly hosting a webinar on access to opioid treatment during and after COVID-19 on Friday, June 19th at 10:00 AM PT. This webinar will explore opioid treatment services during the COVID-19 pandemic, including opportunities to build on recent changes to federal regulations that have made buprenorphine and methadone prescribing more flexible and accessible. Presentations will include perspectives from both people with personal experience of utilizing treatment and providers delivering innovative opioid treatment services.
Download the calendar invite and see the joint invitation for more information.
May 22, 2020
The Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) announced two funding opportunities to address opioid use disorder in rural communities.
Rural Communities Opioid Response Program (RCORP) – Planning (HRSA-20-109)
HRSA’s Federal Office of Rural Health Policy announced a new funding opportunity to enhance capacity to address substance use disorders, including opioid use disorder, in rural communities. HRSA will make approximately 50 awards of $200,000 each to rural communities. For more information, please visit the notice of funding opportunity.
A technical assistance webinar for applicants will be held on Wednesday, May 27 from 12:00-1:30 pm PST.
A recording will be made available for those who cannot attend.
- Playback Number: 1-888-704-1108 | Passcode: 52720
Rural Communities Opioid Response Program (RCORP) –Implementation (HRSA HRSA-20-021)
HRSA has extended the application deadline for the three-year RCORP-Implementation program to May 29, 2020. This funding opportunity aims to enhance the ability to access treatment for rural residents by strengthening and expanding prevention, treatment, and recovery services for substance use disorder, including opioid use disorder. For more information, please visit the notice of funding opportunity.
An archived recording of the technical assistance webinar is available for applicants.
May 19, 2020
The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) released a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the California Hub & Spoke System Administrator (CA H&SS). DHCS is seeking an entity to oversee and manage the administrative elements of the CA H&SS project. California H&SS Project has created access to MAT for individuals in counties with the highest overdose rates of California. As a result of the Hub & Spoke System, more than 22,000 individuals have received MAT services.
Qualified entities for the opportunity are organizations with extensive experience in administering, overseeing and monitoring multiple, complex projects, as well as experience serving as a fiscal intermediary managing large budgets and tracking payments to contractors. Applications are due no later than Monday, June 15th at 4:00 p.m.
Please direct questions about this opportunity to DHCSMATExpansion@dhcs.ca.gov with the subject line “Questions – CA H&SS Administrator.” Questions must be submitted no later than Friday, June 12th at 4:00 p.m. in order to receive a response.
Documents:
Apr 7, 2020
Health Management Associates, California Perinatal Quality Care Collaborative, and California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative gathered a diverse task force of obstetric and pediatric providers, anesthesiologists, nurses, social workers, and public health professionals to create a comprehensive, practical toolkit focused on maternal and newborn care from the prenatal period through hospital discharge. The Mother & Baby Substance Exposure Initiative (MBSEI) toolkit is designed to support the preparation of maternity and pediatric caregivers, and a broad group of service providers to overcome barriers and deliver safe, effective, and coordinated care for mothers and newborns affected by opioid use disorder.
The overarching goals of the toolkit are to support providers’ efforts to address the full continuum of care for mothers and babies affected by opioid and other substance use disorders while maintaining the mother/baby dyad whenever possible. This is accomplished through the provision of numerous evidence-based, best practices addressing screening for identification, treatment for the mother and the exposed infant, care transitions, and education options for staff and families. The toolkit considers the intricacies that potential scenarios present: difficulties in screening, stigmatized care, variability of provider and staff knowledge, the challenges of care coordination, and the different settings in which services may be provided. These goals drive a lucidity of purpose to offer safe, effective, patient-centered, hopeful care that is free of stigma and prejudice.
The online toolkit is an outcome of the Mother & Baby Substance Exposure Initiative, one of several California MAT Expansion projects. The goal of MBSEI is to increase access to MAT using the three FDA-approved medications for the treatment of opioid use disorder, reducing unmet treatment need, and reducing opioid overdose related deaths through the provision of prevention, treatment and recovery activities for opioid use disorder (OUD). Anticipated outcomes of the initiative include reduction in neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) severity and length of stay in the hospital, and increase the number of mothers in long-term recovery.
Apr 2, 2020
California has made significant progress in expanding access to opioid treatment, but roadblocks still remain, according to a recent article from Kaiser Health News. The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) recently shared outcomes from the Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) Expansion project, which has expanded opioid treatment to more than 20,000 patients statewide and created more than 650 new access points for treatment.
The growing number of patients has been encouraging but stigma against MAT and limits on the number of patients that prescribers can treat has hindered progress. COVID-19 has further complicated matters, by making face-to-face prescribing and therapy difficult during the stay-at-home order.
DHCS, along with MAT Expansion Project partners, are combating stigma with public information campaigns like Choose Change California. The project also focuses on training providers to treat patients in other settings, including emergency rooms, hospitals, primary care clinics, residential treatment programs, county mental health centers, jails and drug courts. And, the state has released new guidance allowing treatment via telehealth for prescribers and counselors, to continue providing treatment to patients during social distancing.
To learn more about the MAT Expansion project, see the slides from a recent webinar series highlighting the project’s initiatives; to learn more about MAT during the stay at home order, visit DHCS’ COVID-19 page.
Feb 26, 2020
Opioid overdoses killed more than 46,000 Americans in 2018, including 2,428 Californians. The opioid crisis continues to command national attention, and in September 2019, the federal government approved an additional $1.5 billion to states to bolster their response efforts. In California, this federal money supports the Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) Expansion Project. The project aims to increase access to treatment and reduce opioid overdose deaths through more than 30 programs focused on prevention, treatment, and recovery activities. The project has a special focus on populations with limited MAT access, including youth, rural areas and American Indian & Alaska Native tribal communities.
Join Harbage Consulting for a two-part webinar series to learn more about the California MAT Expansion Project:
Part 1: Overview of the MAT Expansion Project; Naloxone Distribution
Time: March 12th at 12 pm
Speakers:
Marlies Perez, Division Chief, Department of Health Care Services
Aimee Dunkle, Founder, The Solace Foundation
This webinar will provide an overview of the more than 30 projects under the MAT Expansion Project and describe outcomes since the project began in 2017. It will also provide information about the Naloxone Distribution Project, which provides the opioid overdose reversal drug naloxone free of charge to entities throughout the state. More than 10,000 opioid overdose reversals have occurred to date.
Download the webinar slides.
Part 2: Responding to the Opioid Crisis in Tribal Communities and the Criminal Justice System
Time: March 25th at 12 pm
Speakers:
Tyler Sadwith, Senior Associate, Technical Assistance Collaborative
Arlene Brown, Recovery Support Navigator, Northern Inyo Hospital
Donna Strugar-Fritsch, Principal, Health Management Associates
Part 2 will delve into the response to the opioid crisis in tribal communities and in the criminal justice system. The Tribal MAT Project is working across the state to increase access to treatment and prevent overdose deaths, with special consideration for Tribal and Urban Indian values, culture, and treatments. In the criminal justice system, work is underway to increase access to treatment for substance use disorder in jails and drug court systems in 29 counties across California, serving more than 75% of the state’s population.
Download the webinar slides.
