Patient-centered care's relationship with substance use disorder treatment utilization.

BACKGROUND

Calls for more patient-centered care are growing in the substance use disorder (SUD) treatment field. However, evidence is sparse regarding whether patient-centered care improves access to, or utilization of, effective treatment services.

METHODS

Using nationally representative survey data from SUD treatment clinics in the United States, we examine the association between patient-centered clinical care and the utilization of six services: methadone, buprenorphine, behavioral treatment, routine medical care, HIV testing, and suicide prevention counseling. We measured clinics' practice of and emphasis on patient-centered care with two variables: (1) whether the clinic regularly invites patients into clinical decision-making processes, and (2) whether supervisors believe in patient-centered healthcare and shared decision-making practices within their clinics.

RESULTS

In 2017, only 23% of SUD treatment clinics regularly invited patients into care decision-making meetings when their cases were discussed. A composite variable captured clinical supervisors' own experience with and expectations for patient-clinician interaction within their clinics (Cronbach's alpha = 0.79). Results from regression models that controlled for several organizational and environmental factors show that patient-centered care was independently associated with greater utilization of four of six evidence-based services.

CONCLUSIONS

A minority of SUD clinics practice patient-centered healthcare in the United States. Given the connection to evidence-based services, increasing participatory mechanisms in SUD treatment service provision can facilitate patients' access to appropriate and evidence-based services.