Longitudinal Examination of Medical Staff Utilization in Substance Use Disorder Treatment Organizations

• Study examines changes in utilization of medical staff including psychiatrists, physicians, nurses, and other medical staff from 2007 to 2010.
• Study data come from national sample of 274 substance use disorder treatment centers.
• Average utilization of medical staff increased by 26% from 2007 to 2010.
• Changes in medical staff utilization were larger for organization that were hospital based, offered medication assisted treatment, recently expanded, increased patient referrals from health care sources, and used more case managers.
• Growing SUD treatment providers with more health care referrals have increased use of medical staff and may be better adapting to the changing health care environment presented by the Affordable Care Act.

This study examined changes in utilization of medical staff within organizations specializing in treatment of patients with substance use disorder (SUD) at two points in time (2007 and 2010). Utilization was calculated as the number of hours paid weekly for psychiatrists, physicians, nurses, and other medical staff working as employees or on contract. Study data come from a longitudinal national sample of 274 substance use disorder treatment centers. Average utilization of medical staff by these SUD treatment organizations increased by 26% from 2007 to 2010. The results showed that growing SUD treatment centers that obtained more referrals from health care providers, used case managers to coordinate comprehensive approaches to patient care, provided medication assisted treatment (MAT), and that were connected more closely with hospitals made increased use of medical staff over the 2007–2010 period. In 2010, these organizations seem to have been moving in directions consistent with trends forecasted for the SUD treatment environment after implementation of the Affordable Care Act.