339220
Medication Assisted Therapies for Opioid Dependence in the New York City Jail System
Tuesday, November 3, 2015
: 10:30 a.m. - 10:50 a.m.
Homer D. Venters, MD MS,
Correctional Health Services, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygeine, Queens, NY
Behavioral health concerns represent the most common set of diagnoses among incarcerated persons and also feature prominently in the reasons for incarceration. The NYC jail system is the nation’s second largest and since 1987, patients in this system have had access to methadone from the health service the bureau of Correctional Health Services (CHS) of the NYC DOHMH. Each year, several thousand patients receive maintenance doses of methadone while in jail while a larger number receive detoxification doses because of program restrictions. In addition to the methadone program, several other substance abuse interventions have been developed by CHS including residential treatment housing areas that receive referrals from drug courts, discharge planning for patients with substance abuse, distribution of intranasal naloxone kits to visiting family members and continuation of buprenorphine with take-home doses given to patients. These innovations require significant coordination with the health plans and providers of individual patients, as well as state and federal oversight and regulatory agencies. Our experience in the NYC jail system is that adoption of the Affordable Care Act and other features of Medicaid redesign will support both the need for jail-based substance abuse interventions as well as the linkage of patients receiving these services to community based care.
Learning Areas:
Basic medical science applied in public health
Chronic disease management and prevention
Clinical medicine applied in public health
Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Public health or related public policy
Learning Objectives:
Explain the history of MAT treatment in the NYC jail system.
Discuss the spectrum of substance abuse programs and other interventions that are beneficial to incarcerated patients who are receiving MAT.
Discuss the barriers to wider MAT dissemination and implementation for incarcerated patients.
Presenting author's disclosure statement:Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I oversee health care delivery in the NYC jail system, including all aspects of mental health, substance abuse and medical care delivered to persons held in the 12 jails of NYC. I have worked in the NYC jail system since 2008 an have worked in role of directly providing health care, as well as in oversight and quality improvement and quality assurance roles.
Any relevant financial relationships? No
I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines,
and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed
in my presentation.
