New study shows promising results for HSN's addiction treatment programs, reducing ER visits

The results from a new study conducted by researchers at Sudbury, Ont.'s Health Sciences North (HSN) and NOSM University, shows success in hospital-based substance-use programs.

"We know that substance-use presentations are increasing. They have not levelled off post-pandemic," Dr. Tara Leary, the physician lead of regional addictions services at HSN said. 

"At HSN alone, our substance-use presentations have increased almost 50 per cent in the last three years. Across the north, the leading cause of death for people under 50 is opioid overdose," she added

In response to this, HSN introduced two programs – Addiction Medicine Unit (AMU) and the Addiction Medicine Consult Service (AMCS) – to better serve people who use substances. 

The study looked at over 5,000 patients including those who visited the emergency room multiple times between 2018 and 2022,  patients who received these specialized services, compared to those who did not.

This study shows that we are moving in the right direction.- Dr. Tara Leary, physician lead of regional addictions at Health Sciences North

It assessed whether the two programs are helping to meet the immediate needs of people presenting, and if those patients returned to the emergency room within 30 days of being treated. 

Additionally, it measured the time until patients returned to the hospital 30 days after that initial visit.  

The results of the study found that providing specialized addiction services like AMCS and AMU reduced the likelihood of patients needing to go back to the emergency room within 30 days. 

Kristen Morin, research scientist at HSN Research Institute and also an assistant professor at NOSM University, said the findings are exactly what they had hoped for. 

"This is an indication that these services are actually addressing the immediate medical concerns and that the program is doing what it's intended to do," Morin said. 

The study also revealed that the patients who returned beyond the 30-day mark, after undergoing specialized programs, often faced complex medical and social issues, including housing, income, and community support.  

Morin says this shows the need for collaboration with community services.

"This really tells the story that there's some work to do with partnerships with community services, and just really building the whole system of care for people who use substances," she added. 

Leary agrees that said that there is still more work to do. 

"But this study shows that we are moving in the right direction. We are better meeting people's needs."

"We can't control who walks in our door, but what we can control is how we respond to that,"Leary stated. 

She pointed out HSN's social accountability mandate, emphasizing that the study underscores their "duty" to effectively address these "acute needs".

Leary also highlighted that examining the effectiveness of the two programs based on emergency room revisits showed the level of trust between substance-use patients and the healthcare system. 

The study, also included interviews with 25 patients in the addiction medicine unit.  

Leary added that those patients indicated that because consult service and harm reduction-focused care at the hospital that they felt more comfortable to come to the hospital. 

 "They are trusting the hospital a little bit more to come to the hospital when they actually need to come because historically with this population, even though some people would need medical attention, they wouldn't seek out care because of mistrust with the system," she explained. 

Through the findings of this study, Leary hopes that the data learned can be shared with other hospitals so they can evaluate how their programs are working.

 "We hope to be able to share this with people who are doing similar work, to learn from them, to share our learnings and to make equitable, evidence-based care available across the board to people who use substances."