SAMHSA Issues New Guidelines for MAT and Alcohol Use Disorder

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) recently issued new guidelines for medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for alcohol use disorders. These guidelines are specifically designed for primary care and specialty providers.

SAMHSA worked alongside the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) to create the new guidelines, which was prepared by a panel of experts in the research, clinical care, medical education, and public policy fields (Lavitt, 2015).

Called Medication for the Treatment of Alcohol Use Disorders: A Brief Guide, the guidelines provide information on the four drugs approved by the FDA to treat alcohol use disorder: disulfiram, oral naltrexone, extended release injectable naltrexone, and acamprosate (Lavitt, 2015). The guide addresses the following six topics:

1.Balancing FDA-approved indications with a patient’s unique circumstances

2.Screening patients for alcohol abuse

3.Assessing the need for MAT

4.Developing a treatment plan and selecting a medication

5.Treating patients with co-occurring disorders

6.Monitoring a patient’s progress on the medication

The PDF of the guide can be found by clicking here.

References

Lavitt, J. (2015). SAMHSA releases new guidance on medication treatment for alcohol use disorder. Retrieved from http://www.thefix.com/content/samhsa-releases-new-guidance-medication-assisted-treatment-alcohol-use-disorder

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