Substance misuse, and opioid misuse, in particular, is a significant public health and medical concern and is associated with high rates of emergency room visits, increased morbidity and mortality, and higher healthcare costs. Rush is not exempt from substance use disorders as a likely contributor to increased costs and decreased quality of care. As part of our efforts to address this concern, we created the Substance Use Intervention Team (SUIT).
Every visit to Rush represents an ideal opportunity to detect, assess and intervene with patients whose unhealthy substance use puts them at risk for further medical consequences.
Team members are on-call to engage patients at bedside and depending on the level of need and willingness to accept help, to initiate referrals to inpatient consult team.
Patients identified with a substance use disorders will be referred to inpatient clinic or outpatient resource for follow up, psychotherapy and medication-assisted therapy.
If a patient screens at harmful or severe risk, team members will refer patients to specialized treatment centers and assist in patient case management and care.
Pharmacists continually collaborate, document, and communicate with physicians and other health care professionals to optimize patient health, safety and medication outcomes.
SUIT is an interdisciplinary consultation service consisting of physicians trained in addiction medicine, advanced practice nurses, licensed social workers and pharmacists working together to identify and treat patients at risk for opioids and other substances. Data shows promising clinical outcomes including reduced length of stay and lower rates of readmission.
How does SUIT work?
All patients admitted to Rush’s inpatient medical and surgical units will be screened by nursing staff and social workers for possible drug and alcohol misuse. If warranted, these providers will call the new Substance Use Intervention Team to come to the bedside to perform a secondary screening and begin outreach to patients through motivational interviewing. Social workers will refer the SUIT consult team to round with high-risk patients and assess whether to, upon discharge, continue treatment at Rush’s Addiction Medicine Clinic or refer the patient to specialized treatment centers depending on the level of need.
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Rush Addiction Medicine Clinic
1611 W. Harrison Street, Suite 106B
Chicago, IL 60612
Phone: (312) 563-0830
Fax: (312) 563-0840
Alcohol and Drug Crisis Hotline
If you need immediate assistance, call 1-800-622-2255.