Jane Edwards
Keith Salzman, chief medical information officer at IBM‘s global business services unit, has said federal, state and local government agencies have partnered with companies and nonprofit organizations to launch efforts that seek to address drug and alcohol use as well as substance abuse disorders in communities.
Salzman wrote in a blog post published Tuesday the U.S. Surgeon General’s report in December cited studies and programs at federal, local and state levels that seek to address the addiction problem among veterans.
Some of the studies in the report highlight the use of recovery coaching combined with psychotherapy to help prolong abstinence from substance use among homeless veterans as well as the association of intensive treatment programs, psychiatric medication and involvement in program reunions as part of post-discharge support with improved substance use outcomes.
Salzman also mentioned other federal initiatives that work to help mitigate substance abuse, such as the Defense Department’s Pharmacy Data Transaction Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Prescription Drug Overdose: Prevention for States program and the Department of Veteran Affairs’ support for the Opioid Overdose Education and Naloxone distribution initiative.
