Successful implementation of the new ONDCP plan centers upon RTI’s findings that improving access and quality addiction treatment requires a data-driven systems approach
The Office of National Drug Control Policy’s (ONDCP) new National Treatment Plan for Substance Use Disorder underscores the critical deficits that characterize the United States’ addiction treatment system. The plan describes a robust strategy for moving to a patient-centered, accessible, efficient, and high-quality addiction treatment system that would address the factors that have prevented more than 17.5 million people from receiving the treatment they need. As an organization committed to improving the human condition, RTI International has been working on many of the important initiatives ONDCP outlined in its plan since the early onslaught of the crisis.
We believe that to improve the quality of addiction treatment, it is essential to address the system’s information voids. RTI routinely collaborates with federal, state, and nonprofit partners to “improve the uniformity, quality, range, and timeliness of treatment data” [Pillar 1, Focus Area 5]. Through initiatives like the National Institutes of Health’s HEALing Communities Study, the Centers for Disease Control’s evaluation on the impact of federal and state laws that influence the use of medication for treating opioid use disorder, and our partnership with Shatterproof to create a user-friendly tool that will help people with finding quality addiction treatment, we have seen firsthand the immense impact data can have.