	Opioid Treatment

Introduction

Administration and Management

Service Delivery Administration Standards

Service Standards

OTP 3: Assessment

Service recipients participate in an individualized, strengths-based, culturally responsive, comprehensive psychosocial and medical assessment.

Note: Refer to the Assessment Matrix for additional assessment criteria. The elements of the matrix can be tailored according to the needs of specific individuals or service design. Individuals readmitted within 30 days are not required to undergo a formal re-assessment.

OTP 3.01

At admission, a physician, or another qualified medical practitioner, documents that opioid treatment is medically necessary based on a determination that the individual:

has been dependent on opiates for at least one year before admission, except in extenuating circumstances set forth in federal, state, and local law or regulation; and/or
is physically dependent upon a narcotic drug, using accepted medical criteria, such as those listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders.

Interpretation: Extenuating circumstances may include release from penal institutions, pregnancy, and prior treatment history.

OTP 3.02

Personnel who conduct assessments are qualified by training, skill, and experience and can recognize individuals with special needs.

OTP 3.03

The information gathered for assessments is strengths-based, comprehensive, directed at concerns identified in the initial screening, and limited to material for meeting service requests and objectives.

OTP 3.04

A physician assesses each service recipient to ensure that he or she has voluntarily chosen opioid treatment and understands all relevant facts concerning the use of opioid treatment medication.

OTP 3.05

Each person admitted to the program receives a medical evaluation by a physician, or a qualified medical practitioner under the supervision of the medical director, within 14 days of admission that includes, but is not limited to, the following baseline information:

medical history, including history of narcotic dependence;
evidence of current physical dependence;
laboratory examinations, including a serological test for syphilis, a tuberculin skin test, and a toxicology test to analyze drug dependence;
determination of the presence of infectious diseases or organ abnormalities;
determination of vital signs, general appearance, and condition; and
family, economic, occupational, and housing needs.

OTP 3.06

All individuals are screened for:

high-risk behaviors related to HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases, multi drug-resistant tuberculosis, and other infectious diseases;
patterns of other drug use;
presence of co-occurring health and mental health conditions; and
issues related to criminal activities.

Interpretation: Individuals identified as having mental health needs receive integrated treatment directly or through referral to a cooperating service provider.

OTP 3.07

Assessments are conducted in a culturally responsive manner to identify resources that can increase service participation and support the achievement of agreed upon goals.

Interpretation: Culturally responsive assessments can include attention to geographic location, language of choice, and the individual’s religious, racial, ethnic, and cultural background. Other important factors that contribute to a responsive assessment include attention to age, sexual orientation, and developmental level.

QUICK JUMP TO


	PURPOSE: Individuals who participate in Opioid Treatment Programs improve social, emotional, and vocational functioning, achieve optimal productivity, and attain the recovery they seek.

RELATED FILES


	PROGRAM A system of services offered by an organization. For example, an organization providing a mental health service may offer several mental health programs to different populations, e.g., a mental health program for adolescent teens. The word "program" can be used interchangeably with the word "service" or to describe specific programs.


	SERVICE RECIPIENT The individuals, groups, organizations, or communities that use, receive, or benefit from programs and services. Service recipients can include consumers, patients, family members, legal guardians, advocates, public/private organizations, employers, and purchasers. All are regarded as significant stakeholders served in a variety of agencies and practice settings.


	ASSESSMENT An evaluation, which utilizes professional expertise and skills in the collection and analysis of data to understand and describe the nature of service needs of an individual, family, or group. Assessment, as in needs assessment, is also used to determine priorities of program planning and service development for the organization as a whole. See also DIAGNOSIS.


	CRITERIA Systematically developed, objective, and quantifiable statements used to assess the appropriateness of specific decisions, services, and outcomes.


	SERVICE One or more organization-operated programs or activities that have a common general objective and deploy the organization's material and human resources in a planned and systematic manner. An organization that publicly promotes or identifies itself in writing as offering a service, is licensed to deliver a service, assigns personnel and/or space to a service, or allocates financial resources to a service is considered to offer that service.


	QUALIFIED MEDICAL PRACTITIONER See QUALIFIED PROFESSIONAL


	PERSONNEL The body of employees and/or volunteers that carries out the organization's tasks under the organization's administration and/or supervision. This definition does not include foster parents who are specifically referenced in relevant standards


	TRAINING Instruction so as to make fit, qualified, or proficient in a skill or body of knowledge.


	SPECIAL NEEDS A designation used in reference to conditions or characteristics of a person that reflect a need for special care, services, or treatment. When the term is used in the context of adoption services, special needs refers to conditions that make a child harder to place for adoption. This includes children who are members of sibling groups, older children, children with disabilities, children of certain racial /ethnic backgrounds, etc. When the term is used in the context of foster care it refers to the need for a higher degree of specialized case services and attention due to mental and physical disabilities. When the term is used in the context of out-of-school time services, a child or youth may have special physical, behavioral, medical, emotional, or cognitive needs that should be addressed or accommodated. The term is also used in other contexts. See also DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES.


	OBJECTIVE A sub-goal stated in operational terms, i.e., a statement that makes clear what expected results are to be measured or assessed.


	MEDICATION A prescribed or over-the-counter drug that is injected, taken orally, applied topically, or otherwise administered.


	SUPERVISION Assumption of responsibility for directly overseeing and evaluating the work or work products of personnel within an organization. Also includes inspecting the act or process of accomplishing a function or activity.


	FAMILY Two or more people who consider themselves family and who assume obligations, functions, and responsibilities generally essential to healthy family life. Child care and child socialization, income support, long-term care, and other caregiving are among the functions of family life. The definition of "family" will rest with an individual's indication of who plays a family member role, including current or former foster family, adoptive family, extended family members, fictive kin, or significant others. Organizations that believe family is the central constellation in a child's life, and that family attachments are of primary importance for human development, will strive to work with professional staff to develop a common understanding of "family."


	EVALUATION The review and assessment of organizational operations, programs and services.