Examining trends in substance use disorder capacity and service delivery by Health Resources and Services Administration-funded health centers: A time series regression analysis
What does this study add? Researchers evaluated staffing capacity for substance use disorder services in health centers between 2010 and 2017. Between 2010 to 2015, 20% of health center organizations had substance use disorder (SUD) staff with an average of one full-time equivalent SUD employee. By 2016 and 2017, SUD capacity grew by 43% and 22% respectively. The researchers also measured Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) capacity in 2016 and 2017, and it grew by 29% between those years. Health centers that received supplementary grants were more likely to have SUD capacity.
What are the implications for the Health Center Program? The significant growth of health center offering SUD services is likely due to supplemental SUD-specific HRSA grants. Expanding SUD capacity in health centers is an important step in increasing SUD treatment access for low-income and uninsured populations.