Addiction Medicine Faces ‘Severe Workforce Crisis’
WASHINGTON, D.C. — While physicians, lawmakers, and others work to curb the epidemic of prescription painkiller abuse, medical professionals trained to treat underlying substance-use disorders (SUDs) are in short supply. And in the short term, federal laws, such as the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act and Affordable Care Act, which offer insurance coverage for addiction medicine to millions more than ever before, may exacerbate the problem, according to a post from Stateline.
“Right now, we’re in a severe workforce crisis,” Becky Vaughn, addictions director for the industry organization National Council for Behavioral Health, recently told Stateline. “When people need help for addictions, they need it right away. There’s no such thing as a waiting list. If you put someone on a waiting list, you won’t be able to find them the next day.”
While it’s unclear how many more SUD professionals are needed, a new ‘provider availability index’ developed by Jeff Zornitsky of the healthcare consulting firm Advocates for Human Potential is the first to quantify the number of psychiatrists, psychologists, counselors, and social workers available to treat every 1,000 people with SUD in each state. Vermont is the best-equipped to address the problem, with 70 specialists per 1,000 individuals in need, while Nevada suffers a ratio of just 11 to 1,000, according to the index.
Reasons behind the shortage include stigma surrounding addiction, an aging workforce, and low compensation driving addiction specialists to more lucrative fields, according to the post. Nonetheless, industry efforts are underway to enhance the profile of addiction medicine.
Rhode Island Hospital, for example, recently announced that it will offer the state’s first fellowship in addiction medicine, the Providence Journal reported. The one-year fellowship program, funded in part by a grant from CleanSlate Addiction Treatment Centers of Massachusetts, will accept two physicians to work with other physicians certified in addiction medicine and addiction psychiatry, according to the article.
“Training doctors in addiction medicine serves not only to improve public health, but also to advance the knowledge and skill of our own physicians in addressing substance-use problems,” said Dr. Peter Friedmann, director of the new fellowship program at Rhode Island Hospital. “We’re actively recruiting candidates from all specialties who will help us make evidence-based addiction prevention and treatment more available to those who need it.”
Another challenge facing the field of addiction medicine to date has been its lack of formal recognition as a specialty by the American Board of Medical Specialties, but efforts of the American Board of Addiction Medicine could result in changes within the next 15 months, Friedmann said.