Methodology Consultation Success Story: Dr. Jennifer McNeely

Hospital-based consultation services that link inpatients with opioid use disorders to treatment offer a unique opportunity to narrow the treatment gap that results in only a minority of individuals with opioid use disorders receiving evidence-based treatment.  Dr. Jennifer McNeely recently received R01 funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to study the Consult for Addiction Treatment and Care in Hospitals (CATCH) model implemented by NYC Health and Hospitals. NYC Health and Hospitals is the largest municipal hospital system in the US, providing inpatient, outpatient and home based services to over one million people across 70+ locations in NYC.

Dr. McNeely, an Associate Professor in the Department of Population Health and the Department of Medicine at NYU, used the CHERISH Methodology Consultation Service in preparing her grant application. Her research largely focuses on the implications of substance use for individuals and health systems, and access to substance use treatment. Dr. McNeely plans to evaluate the effectiveness of the CATCH model in increasing access to opioid use treatment and treatment retention. With input from CHERISH, Dr. McNeely was able to include an analysis of incremental costs or savings to Health and Hospitals associated with linkage to treatment for opioid use disorders in her research plan.

During her consultation with the CHERISH Methodology Core, CHERISH Director Bruce Schackman provided input on how to best capture program costs and potential economic benefits of the CATCH intervention compared to treatment as usual. Dr. McNeely reported that the Methodology Consultation was “very responsive to the needs of the project and the grant deadline, and extremely helpful. Overall, having CHERISH involved has been a very positive experience for me, and a real asset for the proposed study.”