Posted by NCATOD on April 24, 2013
I am providing a progress report on AATOD’s activities over the course of the past year since the “Challenges/Solutions” policy paper was published during June 2011.
AATOD Conference
AATOD had a successful National Conference which convened in Las Vegas, Nevada during April 2012. Approximately 1,400 people participated in this conference, making it one of the best attended conferences in recent history. The content was rich, including a number of pre-conference sessions focusing on patient advocacy training, tobacco cessation, integrating Hepatitis therapy in OTPs, increasing access to Medication Assisted Treatment in Drug Courts, the Opioid Maintenance Pharmacotherapy Course for Clinicians, and training for using buprenorphine in OTPs.
The theme of the conference, “Recovery for Patients, Families, and Communities”, was reiterated during a plenary session as well as a number of the workshop topics. As many people in the field know, producing this conference is our Association’s method of providing the most current clinical and policy information to our associates in the United States and abroad.
Health Care Reform
The AATOD Board of Directors is of the judgment that Health Care Reform is one of the most critical issues affecting our patients and the future of our treatment system. AATOD has been working with the Legal Action Center and the Coalition for Whole Health in developing policies in support of how Medication Assisted Treatment for Opioid Addiction will be made available to Americans who would benefit from such treatment. Many of us in the field of addiction treatment were surprised when the federal government decided to allow the states to determine what Essential Health Benefits would be covered under Health Care Reform. Now that the Supreme Court has upheld the Affordable Care Act AATOD will continue its partnership with the Coalition in working with state provider organizations as a method of advocating for our patients. We also realize that this is an especially daunting task given the weak economy and shrinking state budgets.
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