This report outlines how to maximize opportunities for linkage to care already present in our current healthcare system. These recommendations offer guidance on how to develop and implement effective linkage to care strategies for healthcare professionals and other community leaders in public health, education, criminal justice, social services, business, and government. The aim of this document is to provide the tools to these entities to increase access and linkage to medications for opioid use disorder. 

This systematic review characterizes the existing experimental, quasi-experimental, single- and multi-group prospective and retrospective, and cross-sectional research on peer recovery support services.

Findings to date tentatively speak to the potential of peer supports across a number of SUD treatment settings, as evidenced by positive findings on measures including reduced substance use and SUD relapse rates, improved relationships with treatment providers and social supports, increased treatment retention, and greater treatment satisfaction.

This report from the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) summarizes the results of an environmental scan of 198 local health departments (LHD) regarding their local opioid overdose prevention and response activities.

This document outlines and compares statistics by the size of the population the LHD serves. In addition, the report discusses efforts and activities related to workforce, clinical and programmatic services, policy, communication, partnership, and data collection. Stories from the field are also included. 

This is an academic paper that uses a survey of county governments to determine what opioid policy and programmatic activities local governments are implementing and which activities are more challenging to implement. Having police officers carry naloxone and establishing a task force of community leaders were easier to implement, and establishing needle exchanges and allowing arrest alternatives for opioid offenses were more challenging to implement. 

This is a report which discusses the current barriers to OUD treatment as well as the low threshold approach, the evidence of its effectiveness, and possible future areas for research. The low threshold approach described in this report include a push for same day treatment entry and medication access, an approach for harm reduction, and a wider availability for treatment in areas with a higher concentration of individuals with OUD. 

This is an academic paper that summarizes the evidence on using medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) in adolescents, with a focus on buprenorphine and extended-release naltrexone. There is discussion on how to appropriately integrate MOUD into a primary care setting for youth. 

This is a report that guides communities on effectively using potential opioid settlement money. There is specific focus on how communities can successfully invest one-time resources in sustainable, evidence-based early intervention, treatment, and recovery services.

This report describes the ways and extent to which state Medicaid programs covered peer support services for adult Medicare beneficiaries with substance use disorders (SUD) and how three state Medicaid programs - Colorado, Missouri, and Oregon - offered these services. The experience of these programs can assist other states in optimizing the management of peer support services.

This is a report from Milbank and Academy Health that highlights innovative delivery models for Medicaid beneficiaries with opioid use disorder (OUD), including opioid health homes, warm handoffs, and care transitions. As the primary payer for OUD treatment, state Medicaid programs are uniquely positioned to enact innovative delivery system reforms. 

This is a report from the National Association of Medicaid Directors that offers states options to consider to promote the health and wellbeing of Medicaid beneficiaries and expand access to behavioral health services. It includes strategies along a continuum of need, ranging from upstream prevention and health promotion for all Medicaid beneficiaries to increasing access to behavioral health treatment for unique subpopulations in Medicaid.

This is a toolkit from the Center for Connected Health Policy that gives an overview of various approaches to the use of telehealth to treat substance use disorder from federal, state and local perspectives.

This is a downloadable report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation that assists state policymakers in understanding the Medicaid program and their role in leveraging it to improve the health of their states’ residents and communities in the context of the opioid crisis.