We were pleased to have Dr. Michael Fingerhood speak to our fellow medical professionals about Treating Substance Use Disorders in a Primary Care Setting at the Louis J Kolodner Memorial Lecture, our annual event at MedChi.
We were able to capture the lecture on video and share the slides from his presentation.
Since substance use disorders are typically handled in treatment centers, the concept of treating these patients in a primary care setting is a new and innovative approach. And seeing that it’s still rare, Dr. Fingerhood argues that detection and treatment for addiction in primary care settings should be normalized and a rule rather than an exception. His desire is to convince the medical community that integrating treatment for substance use disorders in primary care settings is beneficial for everyone — the patients, the providers, the healthcare system, and society as a whole.
Dr. Fingerhood explains that for this to happen, providers should grow their knowledge of addiction and that there is a duty to treat for the benefit of overall health — treating the full scope of illness.
Dr. Fingerhood candidly shares many of his experiences at Johns Hopkins and conveys to us what he has found to work and what doesn’t. There is a lot of valuable information here for the medical community. Dr. Fingerhood also addresses a few sacred cows and confronts popular and entrenched ideas that really do not serve the cause of addiction treatment.
For those of you who want to get all the findings and stats Dr. Fingerhood shared, here are the slides from his recent presentation. Our hope is that these innovative ideas become integrated into primary care practices where possible and that treatment becomes more accessible to people caught in the throes of active addiction.
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Dr. Micheal Fingerhood is an associate professor and addiction specialist at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
