New Study Supports Definitive Drug Testing To Enhance Substance Use Disorders Treatment

"Clinical definitive drug testing is critical to creating the most effective treatment plan for our patients," said Dr. Barbara Zeller, chief clinical officer, Brightpoint Health. Dr. Zeller explained that while receiving positive test results was unexpected for both patients and staff, the more accurate results led to truthful conversations between the patients and counselors, and presented opportunities for the counselors to create more effective treatment programs.

In the study, 12 substance-use counselors each chose two patients to discuss during semi-structured interviews at residential and outpatient facilities. The facilities had recently switched from an immunoassay-screen model of testing to definitive LC-MS/MS drug testing. The counselors reported that the switch revealed new and unexpected information about their patients' drug-taking behaviors that would have otherwise gone undetected. As a result, counselors reported:

• 75% of the patients they discussed had a change made to their treatment plan
• 79% were provided enhanced education
• 63% had an increase in their treatment intensity
• 58% of these patients, according to counselors, reduced their illicit drug and nonmedical prescription medication use as a result of treatment changes associated with the newly implemented definitive testing
• Improvements in therapeutic relationships and honesty

"Rather than the old way of thinking about drug test results as 'gotcha' moments, the counselors who participated in the study were able to use the information from definitive drug testing in a collaborative manner to enhance motivation and the therapeutic alliance, while managing denial," said Adam Rzetelny, Ph.D., primary investigator for the study, Millennium Health. "In my experience working with the illness of addiction, which can be frustrating at times, it was rare to see something make such a substantial impact."

An abstract of the study can be found on the PubMed website.

About Millennium Health
Millennium Health is a leading health solutions company that delivers accurate, timely, clinically actionable information to inform the right treatment decisions for each patient. The company shares a unified belief that everyone has the right to safe and effective treatment and aims to deliver on that idea by providing clinicians and payers with effective tools and information to reach that goal. Millennium Health offers a comprehensive suite of services including Millennium PGT^SM, Millennium UDT^SM and Millennium OFT^SM, which can be used to better tailor patient care. More information can be found at www.millenniumhealth.com.

About Brightpoint Health
Brightpoint Health is a 26-year-old nonprofit organization providing integrated primary care, mental health, dental and substance abuse services to New Yorkers in need. Brightpoint is also the largest health home care management program in New York State. With over 700 employees and locations throughout the five boroughs, Brightpoint serves 40,000 people with over 130,000 health care visits annually. Brightpoint is known for providing the highest quality care and improved outcomes while, of equal importance, treating each and every patient with the kindness and respect they deserve.

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SOURCE Millennium Health, LLC

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