Health plans can help support safer pain management and ensure access to evidence-based addiction treatment. To do this, a health plan must first understand its network’s capacity to serve at-risk members and, if necessary, fill gaps to ensure medication-assisted treatment (MAT) is available throughout the network and at various access points (e.g., emergency department, primary care, hospitals). In some cases, health plans may need to encourage additional providers to become waiver-trained. Waiver-trained providers may also benefit from mentorship and other support programs. Health plans should also continuously educate the provider network — both waiver-trained and other providers and care team members — to recognize at-risk members and connect them to MAT and to safer pain management.

• Understand your network: How to ensure your network is adequate to meet the needs of members with opioid use disorder
• Improve access: How to ensure at-risk members have access to waiver-trained providers and evidence-based pain management and addiction treatment
• Offer support: How to ensure your provider network has adequate support to treat at-risk patients using MAT and safer pain management techniques