# Examining the quality of opioid use disorder treatment in a Medicaid research network

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · 2020 · $1,304,165

## Abstract

Project summary/abstract
State Medicaid programs play a critical role in financing pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic treatments for
opioid use disorder (OUD) as they provide coverage for 4 in 10 individuals with OUD. Efforts to improve access
to high-quality OUD treatment in Medicaid have been hampered by inconsistent and incomplete measurement
of quality and outcomes. States are currently taking myriad approaches to addressing the opioid crisis by
changing the way they regulate providers, pay for care, and cover evidence-based treatments in Medicaid.
However, there exists no analytic infrastructure for learning about the impact of state policy experimentation on
OUD treatment and outcomes as states have no mechanism for sharing data or measurement tools. To
overcome these challenges, we harness a Medicaid Distributed Research Network based on academic-state
partnerships in Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and
Wisconsin. These states account for 15 million (20% of) Medicaid enrollees, and the partnerships have access
to complete and recent Medicaid data. The objectives of this application are to provide a comprehensive
assessment of OUD treatment quality and outcomes in Medicaid, and to inform policy decisions on coverage
and payment for evidence-based OUD treatments in Medicaid. First, we will construct and report on 15
standardized measures of OUD treatment performance in the 9 states. Second, we will link Medicaid claims to
vital statistics to examine the association between the quality of OUD treatment (e.g., adequate initiation,
continuity, follow-up, monitoring, receipt of psychosocial care, screening) and fatal and non-fatal drug
overdoses. Third, using quasi-experimental study designs, we will examine associations between Medicaid
coverage policies, OUD treatment quality and overdose outcomes. We focus on policy changes implemented
recently to expand Medicaid coverage of and reduce barriers to pharmacologic treatment for OUD and to
expand payment for residential treatment. Our network is uniquely positioned to disseminate our findings to
state policy makers who can act on them. Our network is scalable. We will employ a robust dissemination
strategy to distribute the analytic tools we develop to other states. Finally, our network is portable and can be
harnessed to address not only the opioid crisis but future drug epidemics facing the US.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9896805
- **Project number:** 5R01DA048029-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH
- **Principal Investigator:** Julie Marie Donohue
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $1,304,165
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-04-01 → 2021-09-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9896805

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9896805, Examining the quality of opioid use disorder treatment in a Medicaid research network (5R01DA048029-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9896805. Licensed CC0.

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