July 21, 2020, New York, NY – As the stress and isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic contribute to rising overdose deaths – up by as much as 42 percent in May compared with last year – Shatterproof, a nonprofit organization dedicated to reversing the addiction crisis in the United States, announced a free, first-of-its-kind tool to connect those in need with high-quality and appropriate addiction treatment. ATLAS™, an Addiction Treatment Locator, Assessment, and Standards Platform, launching today in six states on www.TreatmentATLAS.org, evaluates addiction treatment facilities’ use of evidence-based best practices, allows patients to see and provide feedback on their experience, and offers an easy-to-use online interface to allow those in need and their loved ones to search for and compare facilities using criteria such as location, services offered and insurance provider so they can connect with appropriate treatment.
“During a time when social isolation, economic hardship and disruption of everyday routines are worsening our nation’s addiction crisis, ATLAS is a critical new resource. When my son Brian needed addiction treatment, my family agonized trying to find him the right care. It was impossible to know who to trust,” says Shatterproof Founder and CEO Gary Mendell. “ATLAS is a sea change in the addiction world. It will give those in need and their families the transparent and trustworthy information my family never had and will help put more people on the path to recovery.”
ATLAS is currently available in Delaware, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina and West Virginia. The platform lists all of the state’s addiction treatment facilities for any substance use disorder, including opioid use disorder, with more than half voluntarily providing information on services and practices they utilize. ATLAS features:
- Facilities’ use of best practices based on Shatterproof National Principles of Care, evidence-based standards derived from the Surgeon General’s Report on Addiction, using data gathered through a combination of validated sources;
- Feedback from other patients once a minimum threshold of 20 responses for the facility is met, this is updated every 24 hours;
- An expert-agreed upon Addiction Treatment Needs Assessment, created in collaboration with the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) and OpenBeds, to help guide the search based on the individual’s needs and severity;
- Ability to search and filter using criteria such as location, services offered and insurance provider.
In addition to data publicly available now, by the fall the platform will also offer secure access to critical data to state policymakers, providers, and insurance payers to further drive improvements through increased accountability and transparency:
- Addiction treatment providers will be able to compare their facility to peers’ and use metrics to inform internal quality improvement efforts.
- The metrics will allow payers to assess the performance of providers, giving the ability to align financial incentives with quality over quantity.
- State policymakers will be able to use the data to target policy change and disseminate resources such as technical assistance to support providers.
Shatterproof worked with RTI International, an independent research institute with expertise in quality measure development, data collection, and quality reporting, to build ATLAS using a combination of rigorous analytic approaches and data collection innovations.
ATLAS was funded by Arnold Ventures, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and a coalition of national health care companies: Aetna, a CVS Health Company, Anthem, Inc., Beacon Health Options, Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, Cigna, Magellan Health, and UnitedHealth Group.
ATLAS will officially launch at 11 a.m. ET on July 21, at a virtual event hosted by MSNBC and NBC News Medical Contributor Dr. Lipi Roy, and featuring U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy James Carroll, Shatterproof Founder Gary Mendell, leading ATLAS state partners, and Shatterproof Ambassadors in recovery.
To view the livestreamed event from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. ET:
https://www.shatterproof.org/atlas/website-launch-event
Press Conference from 12:30-1 p.m. ET:
https://shatterproof.zoom.us/j/98589049771
About Shatterproof:
Shatterproof is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to reversing the course of the addiction crisis in America. Shatterproof is focused on ensuring American substance use disorder treatment is based upon proven research and ending the stigma of addiction. The organization advocates for changes to federal and state policy, payer reform, treatment quality assessment, and provides public education through online programs.
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