Grant: Operating Grant: Evaluation of Interventions to Address the Opioid Crisis

The opioid crisis continues to grow at alarming rates in Canada and globally, with devastating consequences. There are numerous efforts underway to mitigate this crisis, yet services for people using substances continues to be fragmented, treatment wait times are long, and access to evidence-based treatment is limited. As such, persons with problematic opioid use often present to the emergency departments due to gaps in care. There is a need for flexible, low barrier, rapid access care models. Recently rolled out Ontario Rapid Access Addiction Medicine (RAAM) clinics may help address current gaps in care that exist. In the planned study, we will examine the effects of Ontario RAAM clinics through an evaluation of five representative RAAM clinic sites. We will characterize the extent to which RAAM clinics have helped patients gain rapid access to care. We will also assess the frequency with which patients are transitioned to primary care, as well as their satisfaction with the RAAM program. We will also use administrative databases to establish whether RAAM clinics have helped in reducing key outcomes including visits to the emergency department, hospitalizations, morbidity and mortality (overall and related to opioid use) compared to levels that existed prior to their introduction. We will also evaluate the clinics' effects on healthcare costs and evaluate their return on investment. This research will advance our understanding of interventions that can increase access to life-saving evidence-based care, prevent opioid-related morbidity and mortality, and decrease health care utilization. We have partnered with key Canadian knowledge users, including people with lived experience, the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, Health Quality Ontario, Public Health Ontario and the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction, in undertaking this work to maximize the impact of our findings.