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August 15, 2024

How to Choose an Addiction Treatment Planner for Your Practice

Beating addiction is a long road, and often, that road is paved with failure and setbacks. Many addicts successfully beat addiction, only to relapse, and some addicts take multiple attempts to get clean. Given the enormity of the challenge of beating addiction, treatment services must use the best addiction treatment planning tools at their disposal. 

But how do you know which addiction treatment planner is right for your clients? Read our treatment planner guide to learn more. 

Assess Your Program's Needs

Good treatment planning is your responsibility, but that doesn't mean you need to go out and find the most advanced software you can find. The best addiction treatment planners are tools that work within your program's specific needs. Think about the features you need, don't waste cash on sophisticated features you'll never use. 

Start by assessing the range of your program's services. Many programs offer a combination of mental health and substance abuse support, whereas some focus exclusively on substance issues. You'll need to find a planning solution that works effectively with all the services you offer your clients. 

It might also help to think about client demographics. Does your program only work with adults, or do you cater to adolescents as well? Also, think about the treatment types you offer. A program that provides psychiatric medication to minors probably has much more stringent planning requirements than the average program. 

Does It Integrate With the Current Workflow?

No one likes changing to a new workflow, particularly when you're working in a high-pressure field like addiction support. Switching to a new organizational system often leads to confusion, inefficiency, and reduced effectiveness. Even if you're switching to better addiction therapy tools, there's still going to be an adjustment period. 

To lessen the impact of changing up your planning, it makes sense to choose addiction treatment planning solutions that align closely with your current workflow. An addiction planning solution that integrates effortlessly into your existing methods could help reduce the impact of switching. 

Consider the Features

There are various planning tools on the market, so when selecting a treatment planner, take the time to evaluate all the features. The best planners offer extensive customization, allowing you to create a bespoke road map for every client.

If you work in addiction treatment long enough, you'll realize every client is different. Every recovery journey requires a unique approach. Any planning solution that can't account for this isn't effective.

An addiction treatment planner offering a modular approach to planning can be quite useful, as this allows personalized plans to be created systematically. By letting you add or remove preset treatment components based on your clients' needs, you can provide highly personalized treatment, without needing to spend hours sweating the details. 

Does It Handle Progress Tracking and Reporting?

An effective addiction treatment planner offers robust progress tracking. The road to addiction recovery is long, and often full of setbacks. It's important for clients and practitioners to see each mistake as part of the whole recovery process. A good planning solution presents the recovery journey in an accessible way.

Your program should be able to pull detailed reports on patient progress to facilitate clinical reviews and demonstrate legal compliance. 

Is It User Friendly?

Working in an addiction treatment program can be chaotic. Unexpected events and strong emotional reactions are the norm, and during these moments, practitioners simply don't have time to mess around with complicated software. They need intuitive, user-friendly tools to allow streamlined input and retrieval of clinical records. 

Simple, user-friendly software means you can also spend less time training new staff. The best planning software has such an intuitive interface, all you need is a modest amount of tech experience, and you can easily figure things out for yourself. 

The best systems are also highly accessible. Your planning system should function well on desktop systems, and also mobile devices like tablets and smartphones. This flexibility allows staff to access clinical records and update their treatment plans, no matter where they are. Consistent accessibility is crucial to maintaining accurate and comprehensive records.

Security and Compliance

While your addiction treatment planner needs to be accessible, it also needs to be secure. After all, your treatment program deals with highly confidential and sensitive client records. Going through addiction treatment is a difficult process, and having an addiction program you can trust is crucial. 

If your program gets a reputation for not taking information security seriously, you'll have a hard time establishing that trust. Your planning system should fully comply with industry standards for data protection. For example, sensitive client data should be encrypted using the latest security protocols. 

When it comes to industry regulations like the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, there's no room for doubt or error. Never consider a planning solution that doesn't take regulatory compliance seriously. 

They Should Offer Ongoing Support

For a planning system to be effective, you need consistent support from the vendor. Software updates are about more than introducing new functionality, they also address critical security issues. They will also make changes in light of the latest regulatory requirements. 

To put it simply, if a vendor abandons your planning software, you no longer have a workable planning solution. You should only work with planning software that's produced by a vendor with a strong industry reputation. 

The Right Addiction Treatment Planner Helps You Provide for Your Clients

As you can see, a lot of thought and consideration goes into finding the ideal addiction treatment planner. The best solutions are highly customizable and will easily integrate into your program's existing workflow. Your planner needs to have comprehensive features while still being user-friendly and accessible, but it should never sacrifice security and compliance. 

Are you looking for a knowledgeable partner to help you navigate the complex field of addiction planning software?  Alleva is a team of licensed therapists, industry professionals, and experienced software developers working in tandem to push the boundaries of medical technology. Contact us today to schedule a demo and let's discuss a planning solution that will work for your clients.

April 20, 2024

U.S. Surgeon General Report On Addiction Epidemic

On Thursday Novemeber 17th the U.S. surgeon general Dr. Vivek Murthy released a 426-page report titeled “Facing Addiction in America” - This Surgeon General report on addiction is the first of its kind to be published in the United States.

“For far too long, too many in our country have viewed addiction as a moral failing,” Murthy stated. “It is a chronic illness that we must approach with the same skill and compassion with which we approach heart disease, diabetes and cancer.”

Alleva and addiction treatment centers are trying to do just that. Obamacare took a step in the right direction with the new parity laws that require insurance to treat mental illness the same as physical illness.  The hope is that this report will bring greater awareness to the growing epidemic and help to heal individual and family lives.

Click here to learn more about the addiction epidemic in the United States.

June 20, 2017

TED Talk: Lessons from the Mental Hospital

What a wonderful opportunity it is to hear another person's story and be change from it. In Lessons from the Mental Hospital, Glennon Doyle Melton shares her story of overcoming bulimia, alcoholism and drug addictions; and teaches us the lessons of the strength of being vulnerable, sensitive and our true selves. She teaches us that ‘the sunrise is a daily invitation of hope’, ‘a daily invitation to change’ and ‘a daily invitation to be present’. Let’s all take that invitation and not be afraid to share our story.

June 12, 2017

Everything You Know About Recovery is Wrong

Innovators, like Johann Hari, help us understand better those who struggle with addiction and helps us challenge our preconceived ideas on the criminalization of drug use. He helps us ask the hard questions. What is addiction? How does addiction happen? How can we help those who struggle from addiction to achieve recovery? And he gives us surprising solutions as he makes striking statements like, "the opposite of addiction is connection".

 

June 8, 2017

We’re Official! The Best EMR Goes Live

Our one-of-a-kind EMR software is taking off and we couldn’t be more excited to share the news. Our super-cool first press release was published earlier this week.  “We knew we could make a difference in the realm of addiction recovery simply by improving communication between therapists, clients and families,” said co-founder Matt Stevens when interviewed for the press release.

Our HIPAA-compliant secure video conferencing, treatment plans, client app, and other unique features make our EMR the best on the market.

We want to thank our team members in our San Clemente and Provo offices for their hard work, creativity, and stunning good looks. We also want to thank our beta customers: Acqua Recovery, Miramar Recovery Center and Solara Mental Health for jumping on board and letting us be part of their teams.

We’re excited to see what’s next!

June 6, 2017

PTSD and Substance Use Disorders

June is Post-traumatic stress disorder awareness month. PTSD is a disorder that is commonly associated with war veterans. But, as seen in the infographic below, it can also occur in people who have experienced the sudden death of a loved one, a car accident, or a range of other traumatic events. 

PTSD and substance use disorders can often occur together. Similar events that trigger post-traumatic stress may also drive individuals to cope using chemical substances. One study found a 41% prevalence of lifetime post-traumatic stress disorder among individuals who used heroin. The same study found that individuals with PTSD were more likely to experiment and develop dependencies on a wider range of substances. They also had poorer physical and mental health, but were more likely to be in treatment. This means that treatment centers have a much higher than average proportion of individuals with PTSD, which speaks to the importance of various types of therapy. 

Many informational resources are available online:

National Institute of Mental Health

DualDiagnosis.org

May 22, 2017

The Utah Opidemic

Many are calling addiction an epidemic in the United States and for good reason.  Last year, nearly 10% of the US population used illicit drugs, while binge drinking affected nearly 15%.  In 2015, 35,000 people died of an opioid overdose.  These numbers can be scary but the Utah Department of Health is taking aim to reduce and eventually eliminate this problem.  The Utah Opidemic is of particular concern.  They have declared the opioid problem in Utah an “Opidemic” and launched a campaign to promote awareness and resources for those struggling with addiction.  

Their website, opidemic.org, explains the serious consequences of opioid use, provides resources to find treatment, illustrates what to do if someone you know has an overdose, and provides hopeful messages from those who are overcoming their own addictions. These helpful tips offer suggestions on what to do to take action and support this initiative in your communities.  While the treatment centers listed on the website are located in Utah, the information is useful for anyone who is struggling or knows someone who is. Read here to learn more about the opioid epidemic.

If you need a new EHR for your addiction recovery or substance abuse treatment practice then you can schedule a free demo here or fill out the form below. 

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May 10, 2017

A War Vs. A Cure: How the War on Drugs Got it Wrong

In 1971, President Nixon declared a war on drugs. Estimates on the cost of this war range from $1-2.5 trillion in the last 46 years. Despite this, drug use disorders have lured people into jail cells and caskets at an ever increasing rate. After nearly five decades, it is difficult to ignore the fact that the “war on drugs” has been a complete failure. 

Additionally, the war on drugs has made it impossible for the United States to fund needle-exchange programs on a federal level. As early as 1998, the Department of Health and Human Services conclusively stated that needle-sharing programs are associated with decreased incidence of HIV and hepatitis C that is attributable to IV drug use.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization and the National Institutes of Health likewise endorsed this intervention in the 1990s, followed by the American Medical Association in 2000. We lag miserably behind countries like Canada, Brazil, and the UK in this regard, meanwhile, our rates of HIV and Hepatitis C continue to climb.

The drug enforcement approach to substance abuse has exacerbated the issue in several ways. Addiction in jail is like bacteria in Petri dishes- the conditions are ideal for the proliferation of the disease.

The Journal of Addiction Science and Clinical Practice Criminalized reported in 2012 that "in prisoners released in Washington State, overdose mortality rates were 12-fold higher than what would be expected in similar demographic groups in the general population.” Similar statistics can be sited across the board. Addicts finish their sentences with more connections in the drug world, dismal opportunities for employment, and a label and often don’t know where else to turn.

 Research shows that shame is one of the primary psychosocial contributors to addiction. It’s sobering to think of the shame distributed by the war on drugs. Policies intended to eradicate drug use in the United States have instead created a war on addicts. The stigma of addiction is beginning to dissolve, but it’s going to take more than billboards to reverse five decades of government endorsed alienation. 

With all of these issues glaringly obvious, the American Public Health Association (APHA) has called for a new approach to the substance use epidemic: a health approach. Some key elements of this approach include:

  1. Critical reviews of drug policies by experts in social work, public health, medicine, drug treatment, law enforcement and even former and current drug users. APHA urges that policies by altered in such a way that drug treatment and harm reduction programs can be expanded. 
  2. Increased federal funding for effective treatment modalities that are currently in place. 
  3. Deprioritizing funding of drug enforcement entities that are non-health related, such that individuals are cared for by health interventions rather than criminal justice. 
  4. Encouraging resources of the Affordable Care act to be redirected to include addiction rehabilitation. 
  5. Eliminating federal and state criminal penalties for personal drug use and possession, barring circumstances that endanger the lives of others. 

These changes in policy would cause a dramatic shift in our response to drug use and abuse on a governmental, cultural, and even on an interpersonal level. 

Often, policies and statistics can make us forget the narratives that make up the story of the addiction epidemic. Beneath the surface of the court rulings and census reports are lives ruined and lives lost. There are tears, failure, relapse, funerals, and broken families. By encouraging changes in policy, we can turn a war on addicts into a war on addiction.

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Copyright 2019 - Alleva Corp. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright 2019 - Alleva Corp. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright 2019 - Alleva Corp. All Rights Reserved.