CENTER FOR POLICY RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS
Translating Research into Policy Solutions
Director: Mady Chalk, Ph.D.
Current Projects
Medication Research Partnership: Mady Chalk, PhD; Jack Kemp, M.S., Kelly Alanis-Hirsch, PhD; Dennis McCarty, Ph.D.: Ten treatment organizations with residential, intensive outpatient and/or outpatient addiction treatment sites located in Delaware, Maryland, and Pennsylvania are participating in a 24-month test of a system change strategy to enhance access to medication-assisted treatment for patients with alcohol and/or opiate addiction. With the Oregon Science and Health University, NIATx, University of California-San Francisco, and a major commercial insurer, researchers at TRI are evaluating not only whether the systems change leads to better medication access, but also whether utilization and costs of health care are simultaneously affected. The Food and Drug Administration has approved a number of medications for the treatment of alcohol and/or opioid addiction although treatment programs have been slow to use the approved medications in treatment.
Health Care Reform: Mady Chalk, Ph.D.; Jack Kemp; Richard Rawson, Ph.D. TRI is leading a number of projects to weave substance use/abuse issues into healthcare reform (HCR) efforts undertaken by the states. In California, Drs. Chalk and Rawson and Mr. Kemp are consulting with policymakers at the state and county levels to plan for statewide HCR implementation. For the Center on Substance Abuse Treatment, Chalk and Kemp have been designated lead consultants for the State Systems Development Program (SSDP), making their first plenary presentation (“State-Level Planning for Health Care Reform NOW”) at the 2010 SSDP conference in Baltimore, with regional presentations to follow in 2011.
Mutual Assistance Program for States “MAPS”: Mady Chalk, Ph.D., Jack Kemp Formed in 2006, this select group of state substance abuse directors regularly meets with TRI and other topical experts to discuss timely issues (health care reform; organizational issues including lessons learned from other industries, etc.). MAPS semi-annual meetings are also the venue where members review progress on pilot implementation/evaluation projects of the directors’ choosing. The goal of MAPS is advancement of quality improvement in treatment of substance use disorders.
Forum on Integration: Mady Chalk, Ph.D. Dr. Chalk and others from TRI are leading a SAMHSA/CSAT-funded project to accelerate integration of appropriate services for substance use conditions in health care settings. Building on findings from PRISM (see selected past projects), an April 2010 kick-off meeting showcased innovative programs in fourteen health care organizations across the country, and the following February, a second Forum addressed the issues of State, County and other payers of substance use treatment services. A white paper summarizing lessons learned from the April meeting was prepared and released by TRI in September 2010, and a second document summarizing the results of the February, 2011 meeting was issued the following May.
Medication Assisted Treatment: Mady Chalk, Ph.D. In a project funded by the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT), a blue-ribbon panel led by Mady Chalk, Ph.D. met November 2008 to discuss economic and policy impediments to medication assisted treatment (MAT) for substance use disorders. Ongoing is a project, also funded by CSAT, to develop national recommendations on health information technology (HIT) and its role in information sharing between criminal justice and substance use treatment systems.
Addiction Studies Program: Jack Kemp This NIDA-funded project was co-founded in 1999 by the Wake Forest University School of Medicine and the National Families in Action, originally as an educational series for journalists. In 2005, a separate series for legislators was added when TRI and the National Conference of State Legislatures became project partners. Acknowledging that issues of addiction are challenging and cross-cutting at the State level, beginning in 2007 the series pairs legislators with their Executive branch counterparts in workshops covering fiscal, substance abuse treatment and prevention, health, criminal justice, child welfare, and other issues. Read announcement of April 2011 workshop or visit the project website.
