Preliminary results of pilot opioid use treatment program show relapse rate decreases

Results of the CLIMB pilot program for members with opioid use disorders show that people do better when they take full advantage of the recommended interventions, which include medication-assisted treatment, or MAT.

CLIMB is an acronym for Community-based, Life-changing, Individualized Medically-assisted and evidence-Based treatment. It launched in May 2018 for Blue Care Network and BCN Advantage^SM members and was rolled out to fully insured Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan PPO members earlier this year.

Preliminary results of the pilot indicate:

The relapse rate has decreased from 36% to 14% for members in the program.
The rate of members participating in MAT increased 23%.
Five members participated in detoxification only and left the program early against medical advice. Those members eventually used MAT and stopped relapsing.
Some patients refused medication-assisted treatment and others were unable to be treated with medications for other medical reasons.
We found that some patients were having difficulty getting access to medically assisted treatment after discharge so we’re actively recruiting providers who can provide MAT on an ongoing basis.

Through the CLIMB program, we’ve attempted to show that treating this disease as any other chronic illness, such as diabetes or hypertension, is in the member’s best interest and provides the most long-lasting outcomes, said William Beecroft, M.D., medical director, Behavioral Health, for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and BCN. The practices employed in the program have been gaining additional credence because, quite simply, they work.

The CLIMB treatment program is based on current literature about the biology and psychology of how people become addicted. It includes detoxification, supervised residential level of care, use of medication-assisted treatment and intensive outpatient care, along with family support and the use of smartphone technology.

We’re very excited about the program and the potential for it to become the new standard of care for opioid use disorder treatment, said Bill Pompos, manager, Medical Management, Behavioral Health. We’ll continue to gather additional data for the remainder of the year and will communicate the final results of the pilot as soon as they’re available.

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