American College of Physicians awarded grant to help combat nation's opioid crisis

Philadelphia, March 1, 2018 – The American College of Physicians (ACP) has received a $50,000 sub-award from the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry (AAAP) to help combat the nation’s opioid crisis.

The grant is part of $24 million in funding over two years that AAAP recently received from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for a new Technical Assistance (TA) effort to focus on the specific needs of states and local jurisdictions to address the opioid crisis in their areas. AAAP, working with a coalition of national professional organizations, will utilize local expertise to provide TA and training on scientifically based evidence-based practices to combat the nation’s opioid crisis.

ACP’s role is to offer national recruitment and provide support to ACP’s state chapters for regional recruitment of ACP members to work with AAAP and the coalition to define local medical champions, to offer expertise on using a quality improvement framework for tackling the challenges associated with reduction of opioid use, and provide project management support for ACP's recruitment efforts and serve in an advisory capacity for the broader program.

“The American College of Physicians is strongly committed to supporting clinicians on the frontlines as they battle the opioid epidemic,” said Dr. Jack Ende, MD, MACP, president, ACP. “We will offer our full organizational resources to this effort and look forward to collaborating with AAAP on this important initiative.”

The Opioid State Targeted Response (STR) TA program aims to provide TA on evidence-based practices across the spectrum of prevention, treatment, and recovery. The program is funded to support the Opioid STR program authorized by the 21st Century Cures Act. The TA program will ensure that Americans suffering with opioid use disorders will gain access to the life-saving evidence-based medication-assisted treatment and psychosocial services they need.

In March 2017, ACP released a position paper, “Health and Public Policy to Facilitate Effective Prevention and Treatment of Substance Use Disorders Involving Illicit and Prescription Drugs,” saying that substance use disorders are chronic medical conditions treatable through public and individual health interventions.

About the American College of Physicians
The American College of Physicians is the largest medical specialty organization in the United States with members in more than 145 countries worldwide. ACP membership includes 152,000 internal medicine physicians (internists), related subspecialists, and medical students. Internal medicine physicians are specialists who apply scientific knowledge and clinical expertise to the diagnosis, treatment, and compassionate care of adults across the spectrum from health to complex illness. Follow ACP on Twitter and Facebook.