In a piece published in this month’s Texas Medicine Magazine, CARMAhealth’s Medical Director Dr. Steven Powell and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Carlos Tirado discuss the importance of seamless and expedited medical care in addiction recovery. The article explores the importance and increasing clinical emphasis on providing accessibility of substance abuse-related healthcare during and after the treatment process. Doctors Tirado and Powell provided illuminating clinical and anecdotal insights into the many obstacles that patients in recovery for substance use disorder face when they endeavor to seek vital lifesaving medical care and behavioral interventions that are key to sustaining their sobriety and progress.

Dr. Powell specifically discussed the interconnected relationship between substance use disorder and everyday healthcare issues, noting that although he’s a family practitioner, the need to treat opioid addiction has become vital to successfully treating his patient population, so many of whom develop long-term medical issues related to opioid use. He also noted the critical role that buprenorphine can play in the treatment process, and pointed out improvable areas in SAMHSA’s waiver requirements to increase accessibility to medical care in addiction recovery. One of the most resonant of Dr. Powell’s insights was the disclosure that stigma and stereotype play a large role in blocking treatment access.

The article, in general, is a blunt yet increasingly hopeful picture of the link between medical care and addiction recovery. Dr. Tirado discussed how the current healthcare treatment landscape was not adequately organized to take patients in treatment and recovery through a full continuum of care. CARMAhealth is looking to repair this disconnect and provide the recovery community with vital health services as they move through each phase of the recovery process. We were delighted to be able to share some of our insights with Texas Medicine Magazine, and look forward to spreading increased awareness about the CARMA model and the need for quality medical care in addiction recovery.