Expanding Addiction Treatment Access During Pandemic and Beyond

T

he Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is bringing addiction treatment to people wherever they may be-including to those currently at home due to the coronavirus-with its RecoveryGo telehealth solutions, which expanded this month with the launch of insurance-covered group therapy-connecting patients and their counselor in real-time via personal computers and mobile devices.

At the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, we are dealing with two very serious illnesses Coronavirus Disease, which we need to keep out of our doors; and addiction, which we need to help our patients overcome. Virtual addiction treatment services help on both fronts, said Hazelden Betty Ford President and CEO Mark Mishek. After several months of piloting and planning a major launch of virtual outpatient addiction treatment services, we were able to quickly accelerate and expand our plans to help more people.

The Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation—now in its 71st year of providing hope and healing to individuals, families, and communities affected by substance use disorder—treats more than 25,000 people annually at its 15 clinical sites nationwide, serves thousands more in recovery, and is the leading provider of education and training for professionals who provide addiction care. Long a provider of telehealth solutions, Hazelden Betty Ford began piloting virtual outpatient treatment services nine months ago, clearing regulatory barriers and establishing contracts with insurance providers for a planned March launch in California and Minnesota. When the outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) hit, Hazelden Betty Ford responded aggressively to speed up and expand the plan, while simultaneously taking robust steps to reduce the risks for existing and incoming patients and immediately connect patients and community members to free support resources, including 24 Hours a Day and several other mobile apps for which the organization has removed the cost at this time. Hazelden Betty Ford's virtual outpatient care is now available in the seven states where it has physical locations—Minnesota, California, Washington, Oregon, Illinois, New York and Florida—and the plan is to be in all 50 states soon.

We are doing everything imaginable to reduce the coronavirus risk for our patients and staff so that we can continue to help more people initiate new lives in recovery from addiction, Mishek said. By leveraging our existing telehealth solutions, highlighting free community-based online resources, and aggressively implementing our virtual outpatient services to complement our ongoing face-to-face care, we have been able to continue meeting the urgent needs of the people we serve, and are admitting new patients every day.

The new virtual outpatient services were designed to replicate Hazelden Betty Ford's face-to-face patient care experience, combining group therapy and individual counseling sessions via legally compliant technology, with wraparound telehealth services as well. Because of the COVID-19 emergency, many states have taken steps to make implementation of such solutions easier.

We applaud the quick work of policymakers and regulators to enable more telehealth at this time, and are grateful to have built the necessary infrastructure that will be so vital in the coming days, weeks, and months, Mishek said. As we provide more opportunities across the country for quality treatment to individuals and families affected by opioid addiction and other substance use disorders, we'll be able to bring hope and healing to our now-socially-distanced urban areas, to underserved rural populations and to everywhere in between.

Telehealth helps overcome many access barriers—not the least of which is the extreme social distancing currently recommended by the Centers for Disease Control. People feeling lonely, isolated, upset—it's important they ask for help, noted William C. Moyers, vice president of community affairs with the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, and a national recovery advocacy expert. What's going to get us through this pandemic is the same thing that gets us through addiction—stick together and pull in the right, and same, direction.

In addition to virtual outpatient care, Hazelden Betty Ford's RecoveryGo telehealth solutions include

Mental healthcare More often than not, substance use disorders are accompanied by co-occurring mental health conditions. Treating these disorders at the same time improves recovery outcomes.

Online health portal My Recovery Compass includes access to MORE (My Ongoing Recovery Experience), a web- and phone-based system of recovery support provided by licensed clinicians. It also includes brief, research-based questionnaires to help clinicians better understand a patient's progress so they can guide the course of care—also known as Feedback-Informed Treatment (FIT).

Family services Connection for Families supports the health and wellbeing of family members who are also affected by addiction.

Recovery support services Hazelden Betty Ford's Connection program provides clinical support in early recovery to improve long-term outcomes, and its mobile apps and online recovery communities support people throughout the recovery journey.

Training and consultation Hazelden Betty Ford works alongside other treatment providers and community organizations to help them integrate virtual service offerings to reach more people.

See www.RecoveryGo.org for more details and resources.

✔️ Expanding Addiction Treatment Access During Pandemic and Beyond

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