Treatment Centers Overwhelmed
Opioid Epidemic Declared by President
On October 26th, 2017, President Trump declared the opioid epidemic a national public health emergency.
Under the declaration, no additional federal funding was made available to combat the crisis; however, federal agencies are being directed to devote more of their already budgeted grant monies to the problem.
According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, some 64,000 people in the US died from drug overdoses last year. That number is greater than all US military deaths during the entire decade of the Vietnam War.
The results can be seen at treatment and rehab centers across the nation, where facilities are overwhelmed, waiting lists are long, and increasing demand encourages disreputable players to enter the market with scam services taking advantage of addiction stressed families.
Scratching the Surface
In 2016, Dr. Harry Chen, then Vermont’s Health Commissioner, said of his state “Even if we almost double the number of people in treatment, for each person who seeks it, there are probably 10 others who need it.”
In Florida, Rehab Centers are being overwhelmed by addiction tourism. Young people in their 20’s come from New York, New Jersey, Michigan, and other states to take advantage of South Florida’s reputation for excellent access to health care. Often, the state sends them back in body bags.
The Healing Place, a treatment center located in Louisville, KY, found that increasing available space from their existing 500 bed capacity meant a $20 million-dollar investment in new construction.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates that less than half of the 2.2 million people who need treatment for opioid addition are receiving it.
Helping Treatment Centers Make the Most of Their Resources
At Drug Testing Program Management (DTPM), we help Treatment and Rehab Centers make the most of their limited resources.
Drug testing in treatment serves a vital purpose, holding patients accountable and keeping clinicians scientifically informed regarding the nature of each client’s substance abuse, recovery attempts, and relapses.
Testing protocols can be expensive to establish and complicated to manage. Sending out tests can result in delays, and preliminary results often need follow up tests at a confirmation lab.
For treatment centers with an in-house drug lab, DTPM offers comprehensive services designed to maintain high-quality operations at affordable prices. From reagents and lab supplies to experienced lab directors, DTPM works with your lab to develop a custom agreement crafted to make operations more affordable, reliable, and profitable.
For treatment centers with no lab, DTPM offers multi-panel drug testing cups that provide rapid detection and immediate results. And, if your treatment center has decided to expand its operations to include in-house drug testing, the experts at DTPM can take you from lab design and certification to your first day of operation more quickly and affordably than is otherwise possible.
DTPM has pioneered the concepts of cost-per-reportable and cost-per-test contracts, allowing your facility to establish in-house drug testing with no up-front costs.
If your treatment center is overwhelmed in today’s opioid crisis and heroin epidemic, DTPM can help with everything from affordable Point of Care products to Safety Apparel.
To find out if DTPM can help, call us today at 256-845-1261, or visit our website at www.DTPM.com.
