Availability of Treatment for Alcohol and Opioid Use Disorders Among Accountable Care Organization Participants

This study examined whether an organization's investment in opioid use disorder services complements or detracts from its capacity to provide alcohol use services.

Using data from the 2022 National Survey of Accountable Care Organizations (N=200 respondents to alcohol-related questions), the authors estimated the percentage of organizations participating in accountable care organization contracts that provided alcohol-related services (brief counseling or medications), either by direct provision or via referral. They tested whether organizations offering buprenorphine for opioid use disorder were more or less likely to offer alcohol-related services.

Most respondents (81%) reported that their organization provided brief counseling directly, but less than half (45%) provided medications for alcohol use disorder directly. Respondents providing buprenorphine (62%) had higher rates of alcohol-related service provision.

Although medications for alcohol use disorder were provided less frequently than buprenorphine, no evidence suggests that treatment services for opioid use disorder crowded out those for alcohol use disorder.