Chronic care management holds no benefits over standard primary care for people with substance dependence, which is often classified as a chronic disease, according to a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Researchers compared self-reported abstinence from addictive substances and heavy alcohol use between two groups of patients from a residential detoxification unit and referrals from an urban teaching hospital between 2006 and 2008. One group received primary care, and one group received care from a team specializing in chronic care management.
Patients receiving chronic care management did not report higher rates of self-reported abstinence from substances during a 12-month follow-up appointment. In addition, chronic care management was not more effective than primary care in lessening patients' addiction severity, improving patients' health-related quality of life or decreasing patients' drug problems.
Chronic care management was associated with fewer alcohol problems in patients with alcohol dependence.
Researchers concluded that more work is needed on whether more intensive or longer-duration chronic care management could be effective in treating substance dependence.
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