Aimed at shifting and improving the delivery of addiction treatment within county jails, Health Management Associates (HMA) will partner with the Washington/Baltimore High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (W/B HIDTA) and Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office to deliver a novel Project ECHO clinic. Funded by W/B HIDTA to support county jails in their region, the Medication for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD) in County Jails ECHO Clinic will provide participants with HMA training specifically focused on initiating or expanding the use of MOUD within their facilities. The project will broaden county knowledge and understanding of MOUD and its place in the criminal justice system, increase the use of MOUD with evidence-based and emerging promising practices, and promote a culture that supports MOUD in jails.
HMA has been integral in the training and education of providers and staff in jails and prisons across the country. The clinician-based team of consultants works with clients to develop systems of care which include MOUD initiation while in custody and integration of services upon release. The Project ECHO team will lean on this experience while expanding their reach to additional county jail teams.
“In the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center, both HMA and W/B HIDTA have been instrumental in helping us lay the groundwork for implementing MOUD,” said Laura Yager, Director of Correctional Health and Human Service for the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office. “In less than two years, we have seen a marked change in outcomes for the incarcerated men and women with OUD.”
The ECHO clinics will use video capabilities to bring together the participating jail-based teams with addiction medicine specialists and other justice systems experts from the project team to improve care and patient outcomes. The addiction medicine and implementation specialists serve as mentors to help the jails’ clinical teams better understand addiction treatment and become more confident treating complex patients. In addition, the ECHO clinics expose providers to multiple cases and systems of care, while also earning continuing educational credits for participating.
“We are thrilled to be launching a Project ECHO specifically for MOUD providers in jails where the need is so great,” said Dr. Jean Glossa, HMA Managing Director and project lead. “This well-recognized ECHO model allows the panel experts to engage with jail providers to help promote evidence-based best practices for a high need and at-risk population.”
The Project ECHO training series will begin with an eight-session curriculum designed from HMA’s experience training jail teams across the country as well as W/B HIDTA’s systems approach to advancing treatment and prevention strategies across their region. Up to 20 jail teams can participate in the first series. Applicant counties are encouraged to build multi-disciplinary teams to participate in the training, which may include representatives from the county sheriff’s medical team, behavioral health team and custody leadership.
“It is important to the W/B HIDTA to partner with experts in the field such as HMA to bring innovative resources to our region in pursuit of implementing effective, evidence-based strategies. The MOUD ECHO Clinic is a critical and timely contribution to the ECHO portfolio,” states Dr. Lora Peppard, Deputy Director for Treatment and Prevention at W/B HIDTA.
HMA Managing Director, Dr. Jean Glossa will serve as project leader and panel participant in addition to other HMA subject matter experts.
For more information about Project ECHO, contact our expert below or to learn more about how to apply to participate, contact Rebecca Bates at [email protected].
