The American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) Criteria first appeared in the early 1990s. When it did, The ASAM Criteria was regarded as one of the more significant documents relating to best practice care for addiction medicine. Fast forward to today, the fourth edition of The ASAM Criteria is available, and more states are making the use of ASAM Criteria mandatory in addiction treatment programs.
So exactly what is The ASAM Criteria? Here, we’ll take a deeper look at how this framework is helping guide treatment decisions and improve outcomes in addiction treatment.
A Brief Introduction to The ASAM Criteria
The ASAM Criteria is a set of guidelines and standards that help addiction treatment providers assess and determine the right level of care for people struggling with a substance use disorder.
The assessment of patients is designed to be holistic. While considering the physical and psychological side of addiction, ASAM Criteria also accounts for the influence that social, environmental, and cultural factors can have on a person’s recovery needs.
To create this multidimensional assessment for treatment planning, ASAM Criteria utilizes six dimensions:
- Acute intoxication and/or potential withdrawal
- Biomedical conditions and complications
- Emotional, behavioral, or cognitive conditions and complications
- Readiness to change
- Relapse, continued use, or continued problem potential
- Recovering/living environment
From the assessment results, treatment providers and clinicians can determine the appropriate level of care across a continuum that ranges from outpatient to intensive inpatient treatment.
The Impact ASAM Criteria Has on Addiction Treatment
Addiction treatment services aren’t a one-size-fits-all approach, and The ASAM Criteria acknowledges that. Through a comprehensive assessment, the ASAM framework sets out to create individualized treatment plans that are more tailored to the type of care that patients need. With this patient-centric approach, treatment providers and clinicians are better equipped to keep patients engaged and support their path to a successful recovery.
In one study around the use of ASAM CONTINUUM — a computer-guided assessment built on The ASAM Criteria — researchers found that patients appropriately matched to a level of care have 30% better retention rates at the three-month mark. What’s more, at three months, matched patients have 2 to 3 times better multidimensional outcomes.
These results help paint a picture as to why more and more states are moving from ASAM Criteria as recommendation to a requirement for addiction treatment. Most recently, we’ve seen that movement happen in Virginia and Oregon, with a list of mandated states that is only expected to grow in the coming years.
The Value of An EHR that Integrates With The ASAM Criteria
The American Society of Addiction Medicine offers a convenient paper-based ASAM Criteria assessment guide on their website. It is free to all clinicians and can help to increase the quality and consistency of your patient-centered assessment and care.
While sharing this resource, we did want to highlight the benefits of being able to access The ASAM Criteria directly from your behavioral health EHR:
- Clinicians can efficiently gather all the required assessment information during routine patient encounters
- Assessment information is made immediately accessible to healthcare providers
- Healthcare providers can better communicate and collaborate around a patient’s treatment plan
- Patients have greater transparency into their treatment plans and progress
ClinicTracker is proud to be the first EHR to integrate with ASAM CONTINUUM. Through a single sign-on from ClinicTracker, clinicians can conduct an ASAM Criteria-based assessment and instantly get reports that generate the recommended level of care for patients dealing with substance misuse. It’s a powerful tool for helping behavioral health clinicians deliver better, faster patient care.
To learn more about the integration between ClinicTracker and ASAM CONTINUUM, watch this on-demand webinar.
