766: Methadone Treatment Access Expansion, Menthol Capacity Building Collaborative

SUMMER JOHNSON: 

This is the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition for Tuesday, October 8, 2024.

I'm Summer Johnson.

Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

KELLY S. RAMSEY: 

The update in the 42 CFR Part Eight rule that talks about hospital clinic designation. It added more clarification in this reiteration of the rule by stating specifically that the hospital clinic designation can be used in carceral settings.

JOHNSON: 

Dr. Kelly S. Ramsey is an addiction medicine and harm reduction consultant. She says SAMHSAs updated rules for the operation of opioid treatment programs will greatly help people in jails, prisons, and long-term care centers.

RAMSEY: 

So, most people interpreted the hospital clinic designation as something you could use in hospitals only. So, by making it clear that you can use it in these other settings, what that allows those settings to do is actually to treat opioid withdrawal syndrome, as well as treat on an ongoing basis opioid use disorder with methadone.

JOHNSON: 

The change is especially important for methadone access.

RAMSEY: 

So, what this hospital clinic designation allows is for carceral settings to provide methadone to treat acute opioid withdrawal, and or to initiate or continue individuals on methadone for the treatment of opioid use disorder without becoming an opioid treatment program, or without having a relationship with an opioid treatment program in the community.

JOHNSON: 

Ramsey encourages public health leaders to check in on what's happening in your state.

RAMSEY: 

I recommend being proactive rather than reactive, because, as we know, there have been many civil lawsuits that have occurred when this is not occurring in carceral settings, because it is an ADA violation as well as an Eighth Amendment violation, not to provide these medications to individuals who are incarcerated.

JOHNSON: 

Ramsey authored a Q and A for John Hopkins about this development. Find the article in the show notes.

Last year, ASTHO and the CDC launched the Increasing State Menthol Capacity Learning Collaborative. Now ASTHO's, Matta Sannoh and her team have a go to web page with all the information on the collaborative.

MATTA SANNOH: 

That's how it initiated as a one stop shop, as a resource for those state teams to refer back to some of the work that was done in the learning collaborative, but also to house the resources that were developed as a result of that learning collaborative.

JOHNSON: 

Sannoh says the goal is to provide all the menthol capacity building resources in one spot.

SANNOH: 

The web page is designed to be a centralized platform for menthol related resources and tools. The goal is to support state health departments, community based partners, and other stakeholders in their efforts to reduce harms of menthol tobacco use.

JOHNSON: 

The web page also offers real life lessons learned from states that participated in the collaborative.

SANNOH: 

And you'll also see key successes from the state teams on the strategies that work best for them and their populations of interest. You'll also be able to access the virtual learning sessions that were conducted during the learning collaborative.

JOHNSON: 

ASTHO's Menthol Capacity Building is online now. You can use the link in the show notes to learn more.

Washington State continues to improve emergency preparedness. O'keyla Cooper explains how.

O'KEYLA COOPER: 

Washington state is enhancing emergency preparedness by leveraging data to improve collaboration among local, state, and federal partners. This strategy ensures timely access to PPE and medical supplies during emergencies, while the Washington State Health Department focuses on supply chain visibility and community needs. You can access the full blog article by clicking the link in the show notes.

JOHNSON: 

Finally, on tomorrow's newscast.

AMY WODAREK O'REILLY: 

Mathematica is one of three implementation centers supporting the PHIG partners on this program. So, a public health agency that applies would be paired with one of us three.

SUMMER JOHNSON: 

Amy Wodarek O'Reilly will give us all the details about Mathematica's role in the National Implementation Center Program for Data Modernization. Follow the show, and you'll have the episode on your mobile device at 5am. Just tap the plus sign in the upper right corner of the screen you're looking at right now.

That'll do it for today. We're back tomorrow morning with more ASTHO news and information.

I'm Summer Johnson. You're listening to the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition.

Have a great day.