Linkage to Treatment and Recovery Support Services for Patients with a Substance Use Disorder: A Survey of Kentucky Physicians

Objective The purpose of this study was to survey current physicians in Kentucky to evaluate their management of patients with substance use disorder (SUD), with a focus on the identification of their referral methods for linkage to SUD treatment and recovery support services. Methods A cross-sectional study was performed through a developed survey that was administered by e-mail to all 12,152 in-state physicians licensed in Kentucky; 524 responded. Addiction specialists, emergency physicians, and psychiatrists were categorized separately; family medicine and internal medicine (FM/IM) physicians were combined into one category; all of the other specialties were grouped into an "Other"category. The results were analyzed using descriptive statistics and cross-tabulations. Results Of the 524 respondents, 271 (52%) said that they treated patients with SUD. Despite this, approximately 30% of them said that they do not screen for SUD. Across all specialties (except for addiction and psychiatry), many providers refer patients with SUD to treatment without prescribing any kind of treatment themselves. FM/IM physicians have a similar percentage to both addiction specialists and psychiatrists when analyzing the number of their patients who are willing to accept treatment; however, only approximately 30% of FM/IM physicians know about Kentucky's treatment and recovery placement Web site with near-real-time vacancies by geographic location with multiple filter options called FindHelpNowKY.org. Conclusions There are gaps in screening and linkage to care, especially in internal medicine and family medicine physicians. Work is necessary to increase screening, build provider capacity to treat, and increase knowledge of SUD treatment and recovery resources in Kentucky.