Opioid Use Disorder (Opioid Addiction)

Care for People 16 Years of Age and Older

Click below to see a list of brief quality statements and scroll down for more information.

Quality Statements in Brief

Quality standards are sets of concise statements designed to help health care professionals easily and quickly know what care to provide, based on the best evidence.

See below for the quality statements and click for more detail.

Quality Statement 1: Identifying and Diagnosing Opioid Use Disorder
People at risk of opioid use disorder are asked about their opioid use and are further assessed as appropriate.

Quality Statement 2: Comprehensive Assessment and Collaborative Care Plan
People diagnosed with or identified as having opioid use disorder have a comprehensive assessment and a care plan developed in collaboration with their care providers.

Quality Statement 3: Addressing Physical Health, Mental Health, Additional Addiction Treatment Needs, and Social Needs
People with opioid use disorder have integrated, concurrent, culturally safe management of their physical health, mental health, additional addiction treatment needs, and social needs.

Quality Statement 4: Information to Participate in Care
People with opioid use disorder are provided with information to enable them to participate in their care. If their family is involved, they are also provided with this information.

Quality Statement 5: Opioid Agonist Therapy as First-Line Treatment
People with opioid use disorder are informed that treatment that includes opioid agonist therapy is safer and more effective than treatments that do not include opioid agonist therapy.

Quality Statement 6: Access to Opioid Agonist Therapy
People diagnosed with or identified as having opioid use disorder have access to opioid agonist therapy as soon as possible, within a maximum of 3 days.

Quality Statement 7: Treatment of Opioid Withdrawal Symptoms
People with opioid use disorder who are in moderate or severe withdrawal from opioids are offered relief of their symptoms with buprenorphine/naloxone within 2 hours.

Quality Statement 8: Access to Take-Home Naloxone and to Overdose Education
People with opioid use disorder and their families have immediate access to take-home naloxone and to overdose education.

Quality Statement 9: Tapering Off of Opioid Agonist Therapy
People who have achieved sustained stability on opioid agonist therapy who wish to taper off are supported in a collaborative slow taper if clinically appropriate.

Quality Statement 10: Concurrent Mental Health Disorders
People with opioid use disorder who also have a mental health disorder are offered concurrent treatment for their mental health disorder.

Quality Statement 11: Harm Reduction
People who use opioids have same-day access to harm reduction services. A comprehensive harm reduction approach includes education, safe supplies, infectious disease testing, vaccinations, appropriate referrals, and supervised consumption services.

Resources Quality Statements Advisory Committee About

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Information to Participate in Care

People with opioid use disorder are provided with information to enable them to participate in their care. If their family is involved, they are also provided with this information.

Background

High-quality care involves a partnership between care providers and the person with opioid use disorder. Care providers bring their expertise, and the person with opioid use disorder brings their knowledge of the impact that opioid use disorder has on their life, as well as their goals, values, and preferences. Information about opioid use disorder can improve the ability of people and their families to navigate the health system and optimize their use of appropriate resources.

What This Quality Statement Means

For People With Opioid Use Disorder

Your care provider should give you information about opioid use disorder. They should tell you about all of your treatment and harm reduction options and the different care providers who might be involved in your care. This information should be given to you in a variety of ways, including verbally, written down, or in a video. If you choose to have family involved in your care, and you give your permission to share information with them, they should also be given this information. You should be involved in all decisions made about your care.

For Care Providers

Provide evidence-based information that is tailored to meet the person’s learning needs in a format and at times that are most appropriate for them. When family are involved in the person’s care, and if the person consents, include family as much as possible in discussions and decision-making.

For Health Services

Ensure that appropriate educational resources are available for care providers to use with people with opioid use disorder. These resources should be available in written and multimedia formats and translated when necessary.

Quality Indicators

Process Indicators

Percentage of people with opioid use disorder who report receiving information (see definition) from their care provider for themselves, and their family as appropriate, to enable participation in their care

Denominator: total number of people with opioid use disorder
Numerator: number of people in the denominator who report receiving information (see definition) from their care provider for themselves, and their family as appropriate, to enable participation in their care
Data source: local data collection

Percentage of people with opioid use disorder who report that their care provider involves them as much as they want in decisions about their care

Denominator: total number of people with opioid use disorder
Numerator: number of people in the denominator who report that their care provider involves them as much as they want in decisions about their care
Data source: local data collection
Sample survey question: “When you see your care provider or someone else in their office, how often do they involve you as much as you want in decisions about your care and treatment?” (Response options: Always, Often, Sometimes, Rarely, Never, It depends on who I see and/or what I am there for, Not using or on any treatments/Not applicable, Don’t know, Refused)

Definitions Used Within This Quality Statement

Information

Information about opioid use disorder should be provided throughout the care continuum verbally and/or in a printed or multimedia format. This information should include, at minimum, content related to the following:

Diagnosis
Elements of the care plan (see Quality Statement 2)
Care providers involved in implementing the care plan
How to recognize and respond to a potential opioid overdose (see Quality Statement 8)
Information about available treatment options and harm reduction services (see Quality Statement 11) that includes evidence-based information about the objectives, duration, benefits, risks, costs, and potential side effects associated with treatment and harm reduction strategies

Evidence to Improve Care