At a glance
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Randomized Control Trial (RCT) Evaluating Improvement Strategies in Addiction Treatment
In Brief
A Phase 3 clinical trial evaluating Learning Session, Interest Circle Calls, and 2 other interventions for Addiction. Completed, enrolled 201 participants across 1 site.
Detailed Summary
Addiction treatment is often characterized by long delays between first contact and treatment as well as high no-show and drop out rates leading to unused capacity in apparently full agencies. Patients do not get needed care and agency financial stability is threatened. The Network for Improvement of Addiction Treatment (NIATx) began as a high-intensity improvement collaborative of 39 addiction treatment agencies distributed across 25 states. NIATx substantially improved time to treatment and continuation in treatment by making improvements to organizational processes (such as first contact, intake and assessment, engagement, level of care transitions, paperwork, social support, outreach, and scheduling) in preliminary studies. While the results are very encouraging, they have, by intent, been obtained from a select group of agencies using a high-cost combination of services. A more practical diffusion model is needed to spread process improvements across the spectrum of treatment agencies. This study is a cluster-randomized trial to test the effectiveness and cost of less expensive combinations of the services that make up the NIATx collaborative (interest circles, coach calls, coach visits and learning sessions).
Study Details
Timeline
Interventions
Learning Sessions occur bi-annually as change teams convene to learn and gather support from each other and outside experts who offer advice on how best to adopt the innovations and learn about new directions for the collaborative (e.g., the need to create business cases for improvements). Learning Sessions and Interest Circles (see below) have similar objectives-to help agencies learn and gather support from each other and from outside experts.
Interest Circles are monthly teleconferences where agency change leaders discuss change-related issues and progress. Circles address how to improve timeliness, continuation, admissions, dropouts and transitions. They also address specialty topics (e.g., programs for women, adolescents). Participants discuss successes, failures, and challenges, and get advice and assignments for their improvement plans. Meeting summaries appear on the Web site. Interest Circles are inexpensive, but are they are sufficient? Should Interest Circles prove effective, they would provide a low-cost, convenient diffusion approach
Coaching assigns an expert in process improvement to work with an agency to make, sustain, and spread process improvement efforts. Consultations focus on executive directors, change leaders and improvement teams. Coaches help agencies address key issues, but also broker relationships with other agencies, offer process improvement training, and promote the innovations to make and how to make them. Coaching takes place during site visits, monthly phone conferences, and via email.
The NIATx Web site features resources central to improvement. The site includes: 1) a catalog of change ideas and case studies; 2) a toolbox providing just-in-time training on topics such as conducting a walk-through and key innovations; 3) on-line tools to assess organizational (or project) readiness for and ability to sustain change; 4) electronic communication services to ask questions of experts, and participate in peer discussion groups; 5) links to relevant process improvement Web sites; and 6) a secure portion for treatment agencies to report and track progress. Hence, our control group will have access to the entire website.