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Contact the press office at ra-dapressoffice@pa.gov to be added. Updates will be sent to your preferred email from ra-dasecretary@pa.gov.
January 2025
The Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs' State Epidemiological Outcomes Workgroup (SEOW), in partnership with Drexel University's Department of Community Health and Prevention, released Emerging Drug Trends: Adulterants and Novel Psychoactive Substances in Pennsylvania.
The report examines recent trends in adulterants and novel psychoactive substances in the drug supply in Pennsylvania, drug checking services and programs, and related public policies. Key topics addressed in the report include:
- Drug Adulteration in Pennsylvania
- Adulterant-Involved Overdose Deaths
- Emerging Drug Adulteration Concerns
- Novel Psychoactive Substances
- Spotlights on Special Populations: people who attend electronic dance music events, youth who attend raves, and PA youth
- Policies and Scheduling
- Drug Checking Types, Policies, Challenges, and Programs
The Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs' State Epidemiological Outcomes Workgroup (SEOW), in partnership with Drexel University's Department of Community Health and Prevention, issued Harm Reduction in Pennsylvania: Policies, Needs, and Services.
The report provides an overview of harm reduction services in Pennsylvania, including naloxone availability, syringe service programs, overdose prevention, and drug checking. Key topics covered in the report include:
- History of Harm Reduction Services in Pennsylvania
- Need for Harm Reduction Services
- Harm Reduction Services in Pennsylvania
- Spotlight of Three Community-Based Harm Reduction Organizations
- Syringe Services Programs and Policies
- Overdose Rates, Disparities, and Prevention Services
- Drug Supply Adulteration and Drug Checking
December 2024
Licensing Alert 08-2024 issued to identify the steps for a drug and alcohol treatment facility (DATF) to obtain a telehealth-only license from the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP).
November 2024
Information Bulletin 03-24 provides an update on the extension of Telemedicine Flexibilities issued by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
July 2023
Policy Bulletin 23-01 notifies stakeholders of modifications to the DDAP Fiscal Manual, Prevention Manual, Operations Manual, Case Management & Clinical Services Manual, and the SAPTBG Provisions.
April 2023
The Departments of Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP) and Human Services (DHS) is providing information to Substance Use Disorder Contracted Treatment Providers on the Alignment Review process applicable to The American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) 3rd Edition, 2013.
DDAP and DHS are providing this communication to keep the field informed of next steps and answer questions posed to the departments through various points of contact. The information is laid out in a question-and-answer format with responses noted below.
DDAP and DHS would like to acknowledge the hard work and dedication so many providers have put forth in aligning with The ASAM Criteria and thank you for your continued commitment to improving individualized, person-centered, quality of care to individuals in the Commonwealth.
Contact DDAP at RA-DAASAM@pa.gov regarding the ASAM alignment, and DHS at RA-PWOMHSASASAM@pa.gov if you have any questions regarding the 1115 Waiver or managed care contractual agreements.
In collaboration with Behavioral Health Managed Care Organizations (BH-MCOs) and Single County Authorities (SCAs), DDAP and DHS completed pilot reviews of six residential level 3.5 substance use disorder (SUD) treatment providers. The remaining 3.5 residential levels of care, as well as 3.1, 3.7 and 3.7WM will be the initial focus of the ASAM Alignment reviews. The 1115 waiver requires the implementation of a state process for reviewing residential treatment providers for compliance with the ASAM Criteria, which is why the initial concentration of the reviews is on residential treatment providers.
A team of representatives from the BH-MCOs and SCAs will complete alignment reviews for SUD treatment providers under contract with a BH-MCO and SCA. In most cases, alignment reviews will involve the SCA and BH-MCO from the provider’s home county. There may be instances when the home SCA or BH-MCO is not contracted and in these situations, a BH-MCO that the provider is in the network with will conduct the alignment review. If a provider is only under contract with an SCA, DDAP will notify the SCA in the county where the provider is located to conduct the ASAM Alignment Review.
A provider will not need to go through multiple ASAM alignment reviews by multiple teams of SCAs and BH-MCOs. One team will complete an ASAM alignment review and information will be shared with the other SCAs and MCOs to prevent administrative burden. In addition, all residential levels of care offered by the provider will be reviewed during the same ASAM alignment review.
The focus of the alignment reviews is on the provider’s policies, procedures, and clinical records with regard to The ASAM Criteria, 3rd Edition, 2013. The purpose of the review is to assess a provider’s progress in increasing quality of care and providing person-centered individualized care. The ASAM Alignment Reviews will consist of an offsite policy review, onsite entrance and exit interviews with provider staff, and clinical record review.
The key areas of focus will be aligning with The ASAM Criteria as it relates to Admission Criteria, Biopsychosocial Assessments, and Individualized Treatment Planning. Offering access to all forms of Medications for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD) through onsite medication administration, referral, or care coordination is also an area of focus.
The team of representatives from the SCA and BH-MCOs will complete the ASAM Alignment Reviews using a standardized tool developed by DHS’s contracted vendor with input from DHS, DDAP, the BH-MCOs and SCAs. Once the review is complete a report will be generated by the review team and given to the provider. In addition, a summary report will be housed in a secure, central location where other SCAs and BH-MCOs can access the information and review the report findings. Reports will not be posted publicly.
The report will include areas of strengths and areas for improvement identified during the Alignment Reviews. The report will also include recommendations for the providers to improve individualized, person-centered care to assist in aligning with The ASAM Criteria.
Follow up with a provider will be based on the provider’s progress in aligning with The ASAM Criteria. Follow-up can take many different forms and can range in time depending on the identified areas of improvement.
Information learned during the Alignment Reviews will be used to help support providers as they continue to improve services. BH-MCOs may use the information to make contract decisions but there is not a requirement for contracting decisions based on certain levels of alignment.
DDAP will use the data from the Alignment Reviews to guide further training needs and technical assistance webinars. In addition, DDAP would review the data for programs who have embraced individualized, person-centered care in aligning with The ASAM Criteria and use their programs as models for alignment and possible participation in future webinars.
DHS will use the consolidated findings from the Alignment Reviews in the Monitoring reports, Mid-Point Assessment, and Evaluation Reports that are submitted to CMS as part of the SUD 1115 Waiver requirements.
There are no fiscal penalties resulting from the Alignment Reviews; however, because DDAP and DHS must ensure adherence to Act 70 for all publicly funded providers, a provider’s unwillingness to offer services in alignment with the ASAM Criteria could result in contractual decisions by the SCAs and BH-MCOs as referenced in #6 above. It is the goal of DDAP and DHS to provide opportunities for training and technical assistance that facilitates improvement in the delivery of quality treatment services which are in alignment with the ASAM Criteria.
The results of an ASAM Alignment Review will not affect a treatment provider’s SUD license. The ASAM Alignment Review and licensing visit are two separate activities and are treated as such.
There are multiple ways TA will be made available to the providers. DDAP has several ASAM documents and technical assistance webinars on their website ASAM Transition (pa.gov) to aid providers in aligning with The ASAM Criteria. In addition, SCAs and BH- MCOs can offer technical assistance and ways to improve policies and clinical record documentation, as well as individualized care. Depending on the issues or number of areas for improvement, DDAP is also available to provide technical assistance with a provider’s interdisciplinary team.
The Department of Human Services and the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs are jointly issuing bulletin OMHSAS-23-03: Aligning Co-Occurring Services with the American Society of Addiction Medicine Criteria. The purpose of this bulletin is to update the guidance in bulletin OMHSAS-06-03 dated 02/10/2006 by providing information on co-occurring capable and co-occurring enhanced services as defined within the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) Criteria, 3rd Edition, 2013.
If you have any questions about this bulletin, please email RA-PWOMHSASBULLETINS@pa.gov or RA-DAASAM@pa.gov.
March 2023
On December 29, 2022, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 enacted a new one-time, eight-hour training requirement for all Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)-registered practitioners on the treatment and management of patients with opioid or other substance use disorders.
View information on this new requirement online: MATE_Training_Letter_Final.pdf (usdoj.gov)
For SAMHSA recommendations on meeting training requirements, visit: Recommendations for Curricular Elements in Substance Use Disorders Training | SAMHSA
If you have any additional questions, please contact the Diversion Control Division Policy Section at (571) 362-3260.
Feburary 2023
On December 29, 2022, with the signing of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 (the Act), Congress eliminated the “DATA-Waiver Program.”
This message is to remind DEA registrants of the following:
- A DATA-Waiver registration is no longer required to treat patients with buprenorphine for opioid use disorder.
- Going forward, all prescriptions for buprenorphine only require a standard DEA registration number. The previously used DATA-Waiver registration numbers are no longer needed for any prescription.
- There are no longer any limits or patient caps on the number of patients a prescriber may treat for opioid use disorder with buprenorphine.
- In Pennsylvania, no current state laws or regulations prohibit practitioners from adopting this change.
Separately, the Act also introduced new training requirements for all prescribers. These requirements will go into effect on June 21, 2023. The DEA and SAMHSA are actively working to provide further guidance and DEA will follow up with additional information on these requirements.
Please contact the Diversion Control Division Policy Section at ODLP@dea.gov for additional guidance.
On January 30, the Biden Administration announced that the COVID-19 national emergency and public health emergency (PHE) will both expire on Thursday, May 11, 2023.
Under Act 30 of 2022, the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs’ (DDAP’s) regulatory suspensions that are “related to federal exemptions granted under the federal public health emergency declaration” were extended until “the last day federal exemptions granted under the federal public health emergency declaration are authorized.” In other words, Act 30 aligned the timing for DDAP’s regulatory suspensions with the deadline for flexibilities granted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) – not with the deadline of the PHE itself.
Below is a description of each currently-suspended regulation, and what DDAP knows about efforts to make these changes permanent at the federal level.
Methadone take-home supply
Current regulatory suspension: Under the federal PHE, SAMHSA is currently allowing up to 28 days of take-home medications for patients on stable dosages, as deemed appropriate by their physician. DDAP’s regulation at 28 Pa. Code § 715.16(e) (prohibiting narcotic treatment programs [NTPs] from permitting a patient to receive more than a 2-week take-home supply) is currently suspended under Act 30.
Expiration of the PHE: In November 2021, SAMHSA announced that the methadone take-home flexibilities will be extended for one year after the end of the PHE (now May 11, 2024). DDAP submitted our written concurrence with this exemption in February 2022. Furthermore, SAMHSA issued a notice of proposed rulemaking in December 2022 that proposes modifying regulations related to methadone take-home supply up to 28 days, among other changes.
Buprenorphine telehealth
Current regulatory suspension: Under the federal PHE, SAMHSA and the DEA are currently allowing initial evaluations for a patient who will be treated with buprenorphine to be completed via telehealth. DDAP has two related regulations that are currently suspended under Act 30:
- 28 Pa. Code § 715.9(a)(4): requires NTPs to make a face-to-face determination before admission to treatment, for those clients who will receive medication to treat opioid use disorder (OUD).
- 28 Pa. Code § 715.6(d): requires NTPs to have narcotic treatment physician services onsite.
Expiration of the PHE: In March 2022, the DEA announced that they are currently working to make their teleprescribing regulations permanent. In June 2022, SAMHSA announced to State Opioid Treatment Authorities that flexibilities around telehealth evaluations before buprenorphine treatment at NTPs, specifically, will be extended for one year after the end of the PHE (now May 11, 2024).
SAMHSA and DEA have made clear that support for these flexibilities have been overwhelmingly positive, decreased stigma associated with OUD, and enhanced care for patients. Given the information above, DDAP does not anticipate any lapses in these flexibilities at either the federal or state level but will continue to provide updates and guidance as available.
Resources:
- SAMHSA’s Guidance to Opioid Treatment Programs (OTPs) and Practitioners
- Methadone Take-Home Flexibilities Extension Guidance
- DEA Guidance to Qualifying Practitioners
If you have any further questions, please contact the Bureau of Program Licensure at (717) 783-8675 or RA-licensuredivision@pa.gov.
January 2023
The Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP) released Information Bulletin 04-22: Act 101 of 2022, Suicide and overdose death review teams.
The Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP) announced an open enrollment period at the end of 2022 for licensed substance use disorder (SUD) treatment providers in Pennsylvania to submit their information to be included in the Addiction Treatment Locator, Assessment, and Standards Platform, ATLAS. This open enrollment period has been extended, and will now continue through January 13th.
Those who can take advantage of this extension include:
- Facilities already included in ATLAS to update information if there are any changes since the original enrollment. If you are already included and need to make changes to your profile information, please reach out to Shatterproof directly at ATLAS@shatterproof.org
- Facilities that have not submitted the treatment facility survey to complete the survey and have their information appear in ATLAS. Shatterproof will reach out directly if your licensed SUD facility’s information is not currently included on the tool. There is a streamlined submission process for those organizations with multiple facilities.
By completing your ATLAS survey during this open enrollment period, you ensure that the information presented in your site’s profile on TreatmentATLAS.org is accurate and you also gain access to a customized portal that allows you to benchmark and compare your services against your peers. If you have any questions or need to have the treatment facility survey resent to your agency, please reach out to Angad Buttar AButtar@Shatterproof.org.