COMAT:
WHARTON-TRI CENTER ON THE ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT OF ADDICTION TREATMENT
Co-Directors: John Kimberly, Ph.D., Wharton School at the University
of Pennsylvania
Constance
Pechura, Ph.D., Treatment Research Institute
The Wharton-TRI Center on the Organization and Management of Addiction Treatment (“COMAT”) is a first-of-its kind Center dedicated to analyzing and overcoming the problems afflicting the nation’s substance abuse treatment system.
COMAT was co-founded in July 2005 by A.Thomas McLellan, Ph.D. of TRI and John Kimberly, Ph.D. of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. In 2009, Constance Pechura, Ph.D., assumed TRI leadership of COMAT when McLellan was named to a position at the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.
The Center is a unique alliance of addiction researchers and industry and management specialists analyzing the “business” of substance abuse treatment and applying lessons learned from other industries. Above all, COMAT is dedicated to innovative solutions derived from best practices. Addressing lack of standards, high staff turnover, a disaffected customer base, and other problems that may be inhibiting widely available and sought-after substance abuse treatment, are COMAT’s primary focus.
“From an organizational perspective, there is reason to believe the addiction treatment system is in rather significant trouble,” McLellan said in 2005 when COMAT was launched. He cited investigations by TRI in 2003, and others, that documented a 19% reduction in the number of addiction treatment programs during the last two years, turnover rates of 50% to 60% in the workforce within addiction treatment programs, 30% to 40% re-organization among programs (through purchase or administrative take-over), all leading to confusion and demoralization among clinical staff and a general decline in the quality of care available to the public.
Made possible through funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, COMAT was founded at a time when more than 70% of all substance abuse treatment was delivered by the public sector, approximately 90% of those who needed treatment did not seek and/or receive it, and approximately half of those who did receive treatment left before completing.
Through conferences and consultation with state officials, providers, suppliers, and trade association representatives, COMAT experts explore techniques successfully applied in other industry sectors - consolidation, consistency across service sites, information technology, leadership training and others - and assess application to addiction treatment to improve quality, client and staff satisfaction, and return on investment.
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