This is a statistical brief from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) that describes how counties that have high versus low population rates of opioid-related hospital use differ with regard to social determinants of health (SDOH). The SDOH studied include social, educational, and economic characteristics; physical infrastructure; and healthcare characteristics. Results show that counties with high population rates of opioid-related hospital use have a meaningfully different SDOH profile. 

This is a report that describes how State Offices of Rural Health (SORH) are aiding their rural communities in responding to the addiction crisis, while meeting the expectations of SORH grants. Initiatives across the nation are highlighted, with a focus on collection and dissemination of information, coordination of rural health activities, and technical assistance. 

This toolkit from the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) provides a framework for organizing addiction treatment systems and a foundation for improving the quality of care for substance use disorder (SUD) treatment. The toolkit outlines the ASAM criteria, which offers evidence based guidelines for patient placement, continued stay, and transfer of patients with addictive, substance related and co occurring conditions. Its goal is to aid states in integrating the ASAM criteria into SUD treatment. 

This toolkit introduces the ASAM criteria, a framework for organizing addiction treatment systems and a foundation for improving the quality of care and addressing the gap between the efficacy of treatment in clinical trials and effectiveness in real world settings. By rooting substance use disorder (SUD) services in a common framework such as the ASAM criteria, states can ensure that organizations are "speaking the same language" when it comes to SUD prevention and treatment.  

This report published by the National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP) gives an overview on the connection between opioid use disorder and neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS). The report also highlights state approaches to NAS data collection, analysis, and cross-agency data linkage, and how states leverage these data to inform better policy and improve health outcomes for both parents and infants. 

This is a report from the Brookings Institute (authors Pacula and Stein) that discusses three broad strategies states are taking, through a variety of policy levers, to enhance the quality of and access to treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD).

These strategies include: increasing insurance coverage and payment for OUD treatment services, expanding the existing treatment capacity for individuals with OUD, and developing more comprehensive and integrated treatment networks that link specialty substance use disorder treatment services with primary care and case management. 

This website provides information on grants focused on improving the criminal justice system, with many opioid-related funding opportunities. 

This is a toolkit from RTI International that features measures that states could use to measure access and quality of opioid use disorder treatment. This includes resources for locating these measures and how to orient these measures in a cascade of care framework. 

This report from the National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP) is informed by interviews of state officials from Colorado, Pennsylvania, and Texas to learn about their interagency strategies to support pregnant and parenting women with substance use disorders, particularly Medicaid-enrolled women. Key considerations for state policies and initiatives for pregnant and parenting women are identified and funding sources are listed at the end of the report. 

This is a report which outlines policy measures that can be introduced in order to ensure that patients can continue to benefit from tele health treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD) after the pandemic. These policy recommendations include requiring private and public health insurers to reimburse OUD treatment providers for services given via tele health, as well as expanding locations where patients can receive OUD treatment via tele health. 

This is a report from the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) that explores the core components of a family-centered program framework that use medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD). An overview of state variation in eligibility requirements and care coordination is provided along with a summary of four states’ individual approaches to treatment. 

This is a report from the CDC that identifies state strategies to improve outcomes for pregnant and postpartum women with opioid use disorder and infants prenatally exposed to substances, including opioids. It discusses strategies focused on access to and coordination of quality services, including approaches such as telemedicine that are useful in rural areas. In addition, there is discussion of strategies related to provider awareness and training among other topics.