The Authors’ Own Words: The Association Between Stimulant, Opioid, and Multiple Drug Use on Behavioral Health Care Utilization in a Safety-Net Health System

This article demonstrates that patients who use illicit opioids or who use multiple illicit drugs are more likely to access behavioral healthcare services. By combining primary care and behavioral healthcare services in one location, we may be able to prevent costly healthcare utilization with early recognition of medical problems such as cellulitis, HIV, or other medical issues often seen in patients who use drugs. If such medical problems were detected early, we may be able to decrease utilization of costly healthcare resources such as the emergency department or the inpatient hospital setting.