Date of Award

2020

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Health Administration

College

College of Health Professions

First Advisor

Jillian B. Harvey

Second Advisor

Jami Jones

Third Advisor

Amber Baysinger

Fourth Advisor

Christopher Moriates

Abstract

The United States continues to struggle to find meaningful solutions to the opioid epidemic. Because they save lives, medications for the treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD), such as buprenorphine, are recommended to be made available in all practice settings. Yet the treatment of opioid use disorder appears to be rarely offered during hospitalization. However, a 220-bed academic hospital in Texas achieved this goal without the presence of an addiction medicine consultation service. This study sought to illuminate this growing area of work through an extensive literature review and case study of the program in Texas. For the case study, key informant interviews took place of stakeholders engaged in the program in addition to document review from the program’s inception. Over 4,500 computer files and over 9,400 emails were reviewed from November 2017 to December 2019. Eleven key informant interviews were conducted. The findings show key areas for integration of OUD treatment within the walls of U.S. hospitals including stakeholder engagement, executive support, interprofessional collaboration, widespread education, stigma reduction, advocacy and institutional policy reform, and sharing of patient stories. As a result, a dedicated group of interprofessional hospital-based healthcare professionals working in a consultative model is one feasible method of increasing access to life-saving treatment and harm reduction for patients with opioid use disorder and likely substance use disorders as a whole.

Rights

All rights reserved. Copyright is held by the author.

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