Budget Impact Tool for the Incorporation of Medications for Opioid Use Disorder into Jail/Prison Facilities
Despite evidence that medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), namely methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone, provided at the point of incarceration improve the well-being of the individual and the public, financial and administrative limitations in jail/prison healthcare often serve as barriers to this recommended first-line treatment for OUD. In fact, evidence indicates that more than 80% […]
Catching Up with Pilot Grant Recipient: Rachel Epstein
Rachel Epstein is a clinician-scientist with demonstrated experience in analyzing large datasets to inform hepatitis C (HCV), HIV, and substance use disorder interventions. A CHERISH pilot grantee in 2019, she worked closely with her co-investigators Benjamin Linas, CHERISH Population Data and Modeling Core director, and Shashi Kapadia, a CHERISH Research Affiliate and an infectious diseases physician at Weill […]
Addressing Statistical Issues Encountered in Conducting Prospective Economic Evaluations Alongside Clinical Trials
Conducting an economic evaluation alongside a randomized clinical trial provides valuable information for clinicians, insurers, and policy stakeholders. Integrating an economic evaluation within a trial provides researchers the opportunity to collect patient-level data at multiple time points on both cost and effectiveness outcomes, and to measure the comparative impact of treatments on these outcomes while […]
A Catch-Up on Promising Efforts to Mitigate the Opioid Crisis
For the last 20 years or so, the U.S. has seen a significant increase in opioid and drug overdoses overall. And while there was a slight leveling before the pandemic, “we’ve seen huge increases since COVID-19,” said Margaret Lowenstein, an LDI Senior Fellow, addiction medicine physician, and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Perelman School of […]
Engaging with People with Lived Experiences in OUD Modeling Research
Drug overdose deaths continue to rise in the United States and Canada, with the risks for greater opioid use sharply increasing in Mexico. As modelers, we know simulation modeling is a valuable tool that can inform policies and interventions to prevent overdose deaths and reduce related harms including drug overdose, HIV, and hepatitis C virus […]
Prevalence of HIV Preexposure Prophylaxis Prescribing Among Persons with Commercial Insurance and Likely Injection Drug Use
The United States has made important strides to reduce the incidence and negative outcomes of HIV, including increasing the availability of effective treatment and prevention in the form of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). While the incidence of new HIV infections fell significantly from 130,000 in 1985, progress has stalled at approximately 39,000 new infections per year […]
Paying Patients Can Improve Engagement in Mental Health Treatment
Financial incentives are known to increase patient engagement in a wide range of health programs, including programs for maintaining abstinence from substances, attending vaccination and screening appointments, and increasing physical activity. However, they have rarely been used for mental health care beyond treating substance use disorders. Showing up and being involved in mental health treatment […]
Cost-effectiveness of Extended-release Injectable Naltrexone among Incarcerated Persons with Opioid Use Disorder Before Release from Prison Versus After Release
Compared to the general population, individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD) who are involved with the criminal-legal system have a much higher risk of a fatal overdose after release from incarceration. Yet, stigma, costs, and preferences for non-narcotic treatments in criminal-legal settings have stalled the implementation of life-saving treatment within the criminal-legal system. Extended-release naltrexone […]
Five Researchers Receive CHERISH Pilot Awards to Advance the Treatment of Substance Use Disorders, HCV, and HIV
The Center for Health Economics of Treatment Interventions for Substance Use Disorder, HCV, and HIV (CHERISH) is proud to recognize five early-stage researchers who will receive up to $20,000 in pilot grant funding between 2022 and 2023. Through the CHERISH pilot grant, researchers can investigate innovative methodologies or applications, collect preliminary data to inform external […]
Intern Spotlight: Grace L. Edwards, Jessica Girard, Lyric Harris, and Antara Saha
The Center for Health Economics of Treatment Interventions for Substance Use Disorder, HCV, and HIV (CHERISH) is delighted to welcome four astounding interns this summer: Grace L. Edwards, Jessica Girard, Lyric Harris, and Antara Saha. Setting personal goals to pursue medical journalism, forensic psychiatry, nursing, and a doctoral degree in developmental psychopathology, they applied through […]
Evidence for Supportive Prenatal Substance Use Policies
Increased prevalence of illicit substance use during pregnancy in the past decade has renewed national attention to prenatal substance use policies (PSUPs). Currently, there are punitive policies that criminalize drug use during pregnancy or define prenatal substance use as child maltreatment in child welfare statutes. If newborns are found to have prenatal exposure to substances […]
CHERISH Appoints Margaret Lowenstein as the Dissemination and Policy Core Co-director
The Center for Health Economics of Treatment Interventions for Substance Use Disorder, HCV, and HIV (CHERISH) is proud to welcome Margaret Lowenstein, assistant professor at the Perelman School of Medicine and senior fellow at the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics (LDI) at the University of Pennsylvania, as the new co-director of the Dissemination and […]
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