The Opportunity
In 2017,
19.7 million Americans had
a substance use disorder (SUD), including 2.1 million Americans with an opioid
use disorder. While evidence-based medical treatment for SUD improves patient
outcomes and saves lives, only 20
percent of individuals with an SUD reported receiving any form of
treatment in 2017.1 Frequently, that care is not evidence-based, and quality of care varies
substantially across addiction programs. Improved measurement and greater
transparency are needed to standardize expectations around the quality of addiction
treatment in America and, ultimately, to transform SUD treatment. As yet, no
universally adopted system exists to rate addiction treatment programs in the United
States.
About the Project
Shatterproof, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to ending the devastation addiction causes families, is launching a pilot Rating System for addiction treatment programs in select states in 2019-2020.
The Shatterproof Rating System will examine whether addiction treatment programs are delivering care that aligns with evidence-based best practices detailed in Shatterproof’s National Principles of Care. The Rating System will measure quality at specialty addiction treatment programs included in SAMHSA’s Inventory of Behavioral Health Services. This includes multiple care settings, such as residential and outpatient, but will not examine individual providers. More information for addiction treatment programs can be found here.
The Shatterproof rating system will be informed by data from three sources – insurance claims, provider surveys, and a consumer experience survey (or crowd-sourcing). The information will be publicly available to those searching for high-quality addiction treatment, as well as to public and private payers, states, and referral sources. Frequently asked questions about the Rating System pilot can be found here.
In late 2018, NQF launched a project to facilitate multistakeholder guidance to inform the Shatterproof pilot. Through this project, NQF seeks to “pressure test” the Shatterproof Rating System for Addiction Treatment Programs Measure Set (PDF) by gathering multistakeholder input on measure concepts under development for the pilot. These measures utilize data from three sources: insurance claims, provider surveys, and consumer experience.
Public Feedback Opportunity
On behalf of Shatterproof, NQF is soliciting public feedback on the Shatterproof Rating System for Addiction Treatment Programs Measure Set (PDF), including:
- General comments on the proposed measure set;
- Input
on critical components of the proposed measures, such as feasibility,
importance, data availability, and alternative approaches;
- Recommendations
to refine and strengthen the proposed measure set, including additional or
alternative measure concepts; and,
- Feedback
on potential data and implementation barriers and proposed solutions.
Comments are due by March 1,
2019 at 5:00pm ET. Please see pilot background and
the proposed measure set for
more details.
NQF Process
NQF will compile all individual public
comments received in a document to be shared with Shatterproof and its advisors
to inform any potential modifications to the Shatterproof Rating System for
Addiction Treatment Programs Measure Set.
Funding
This NQF Quality Innovation project is supported by
Shatterproof, a Nonprofit Corporation. The pilot of Shatterproof’s Rating
System for Addiction Treatment Programs is funded by a coalition
of stakeholders, including Arnold Ventures, the Robert Wood
Johnson Foundation, and a
group of six health insurers. None
of the treatment programs in the Rating System, or pilot states, will provide
funding.
Contact Information
For more information, contact
the project team via email at qualityinnovation@qualityforum.org.
1 Substance
Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2018). Key substance use and
mental health indicators in the United States: Results from the 2017 National
Survey on Drug Use and Health (HHS Publication No. SMA 18-5068, NSDUH Series
H-53). Rockville, MD: Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality,
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Retrieved from
https://www.samhsa.gov/data/
