Investments in the addiction specialist physician workforce are long overdue. While Addiction Psychiatry is a subspecialty that has been available as a career choice for board certified psychiatrists since 1994, Addiction Medicine was first recognized as an American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) subspecialty in 2016, and it is racing to catch up with other medical specialties and subspecialties in terms of teaching and training opportunities.
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ASAM provided input on the Office of National Drug Control Policy's (ONDCP) 2022 National Drug Control Strategy by urging ONDCP to take action to strengthen the addiction medicine workforce, standardize the delivery of individualized addiction care, ensure equitable access and coverage for comprehensive, high-quality addiction care, and reduce barriers to accessing evidence-based addiction treatment.
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ASAM submitted comments in response to a section of a proposed rule from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) intended to implement a provision of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 which created 1,000 additional Medicare-supported graduate medical education (GME) positions.
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GOOD NEWS! The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has posted information about The Addiction Medicine Fellowship (AMF) Program which will expand the number of fellows at accredited AMF and Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship (APF) programs trained as addiction medicine specialists who work in underserved, community-based settings that integrate primary care with mental health disorder and substance use disorder (SUD) prevention and treatment services. Read more.
S.834, the Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2021, would gradually raise the number of Medicare-supported GME positions by 2,000 per year for seven years, for a total of 14,000 new slots. A share of these positions would be targeted to hospitals with diverse needs including hospitals in rural areas, hospitals serving patients from health professional shortage areas (HPSAs), hospitals in states with new medical schools or branch campuses, and hospitals already training over their caps.
This legislation would create 1,000 additional residency positions over five years to hospitals with addiction medicine, addiction psychiatry, or pain management programs.
The SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act was signed into law on October 24, 2018. The bill contains many provisions designed to bolster the addiction treatment workforce. You can read a section by section summary here.
- Encourages increased training on addiction & pain in medical school/residency programs by authorizing $4M in grants for each of FY 2019-2023 to support curriculum development
- New DATA 2000 waiver pathway for recent medical school graduates who have successfully completed curriculum covering DATA 2000 waiver training elements
- Loan repayment program for SUD treatment providers practicing in high-need areas (up to $250,000); authorizes $25M for each of FY 2019-2023
- Physicians board-certified in addiction medicine or addiction psychiatry or qualifying practitioners practicing in a qualified practice setting can immediately treat up to 100 patients with buprenorphine (in lieu of 30)
- Permanent buprenorphine prescribing authority for NPs and PAs
- Added qualifying clinical nurse specialists, certified registered nurse anesthetists, and certified nurse midwifes to list of practitioners eligible to prescribe buprenorphine until October 1, 2023
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