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RTI study validates retention as opioid treatment quality measure

Highlights
  • Patients who stayed in opioid treatment programs for at least 30 days had substantially lower probabilities of death and of hospitalizations or emergency department visits in the subsequent five months.
  • Findings support using casemix-adjusted opioid treatment program retention rates as useful measures of treatment quality.
  • Researchers analyzed Medicaid claims from more than 1,200 opioid treatment programs representing 268,000 patients.


RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. — People who stayed in treatment at opioid treatment programs for at least 30 days had a substantially lower chance of dying or having a substance use disorder-related hospitalization or emergency department visit in the next five months, according to a new study by researchers at RTI International, an independent scientific research institute. The study was published online in the Journal of Substance Use and Addiction Treatment.

RTI researchers also found that opioid treatment programs with higher average rates of casemix-adjusted >30-, >90- and >180-day retention generally had lower rates of substance use disorder-related hospitalizations/emergency visits and death. The findings confirm that casemix-adjusted opioid treatment program retention rates are useful indicators of quality of care. 

“Patients report that staying alive and not overdosing are key reasons why they seek opioid use disorder treatment. This study demonstrates the importance of retention in achieving these goals,” said Tami L. Mark, Ph.D., a Distinguished Fellow in behavioral health financing and quality measurement at RTI. “Moreover, this study suggests that patients may want to seek out programs with higher retention rates.”

The researchers analyzed Medicaid claims from 1,218 opioid treatment programs across 48 states. The population included 441,603 treatment episodes among 268,003 patients who initiated care during measurement year 2023, which covered July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2023.

The research was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health under Award No. RM1DA059375. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

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