Treatment and Prevention of Substance Use Disorders

Contact information

Laura-Mae Baldwin, MD, MPH
lmb@uw.edu

Research Team:

Holly Andrilla, Laura-Mae Baldwin, Ian M Bennett, Brooke Ike, Ashley Johnson, Katie Osterhage, Kari A Stephens, Sebastian Tong, Imara West


Summary 

Primary care practice is a critical setting for substance use disorder (SUD) prevention, diagnosis, and treatment, yet significant numbers of patients with SUDs go unrecognized. One survey of patients in 10 substance use treatment facilities in four states found that 43 percent said their primary care physician did not diagnose their SUD. Opioid use and opioid use disorder are of particular relevance to primary care, as primary care providers, who are on the front lines of pain management, write half of all opioid prescriptions each year, and some of the individuals for whom they write prescriptions develop opioid use disorder. Our research tackles these important problems by addressing optimal management of chronic pain, opioid prescribing, and opioid use disorder in primary care practice.    


Projects