The article, “Providers’ Experiences and Perspectives in Treating Patients With Co-Occurring Opioid and Stimulant Use Disorders in the Hospital,” has been published in SAj.
In this article, the authors detail their findings from qualitative interviews with 20 hospital-based providers with a focus on treating patients who co-use opioids and stimulants. Based on the interviews, the authors identified and discussed ways in which opioid and stimulant co-use creates challenges for substance use treatment. The article also outlines provider-level and system-level opportunities to improve treatment of co-occurring opioid and stimulant use disorders among patients in the hospital setting.
In the AUTHORS’ OWN WORDS, they relate the importance of their work:
“Qualitative research can support the development and implementation of hospital-based care for patients with substance use disorders (SUDs). For example, qualitative research findings supported the development of hospital addiction consult services (ACS)8 and identified key barriers and facilitators to adoption at other hospitals.9 Similarly, a deeper understanding of physician perspectives, available through qualitative inquiry, has informed practice facilitation strategies to implement Emergency Department-based MOUD prescribing.10,11”
“Despite a 13.4% increase in hospitalizations involving co-use between 2016 and 2018,3 and lower rates of treatment with MOUD,21,22 to our knowledge, there are no hospital care pathways specifically tailored for patients with co-use. A recent qualitative study of Veterans Affairs primary care providers’ experiences and perspectives treating patients with multiple SUDs identified barriers at the patient (e.g., life instability, stigma), provider (e.g., lack of knowledge or clear guidelines), and system levels (e.g., low accessibility to specialty SUD clinics providing MOUD).23 However, patient presentations and healthcare delivery in the hospital may be substantially different than outpatient settings. Therefore, a deeper understanding of hospital providers’ experiences and perspectives is needed to inform the development and implementation of targeted services for hospitalized patients with co-use.”