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CompletedNCT03486028PCASTUpdated Nov 26, 2019

Patient Centered Assessment and Substance Use Disorder Treatment Study (PCAST)

An observational study in Substance Use Disorders, sponsored by RTI International. Completed at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 19 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2019-11-26.

Sponsored by RTI International · Observational

Study type
Observational
Model
Case-control
Time perspective
Other
Enrollment
991
Ages
19 Years and older
Sex
All
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Study summary

California counties are in the process of implementing a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Medicaid 1115 Substance Use Disorder (SUD) demonstration. The demonstration requires that patients be assigned to addiction treatment settings and levels of care systematically, using comprehensive biopsychosocial assessments and guided by the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) patient placement criteria.

RTI International, a nonprofit research institute, and University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Integrated Substance Abuse Programs have been awarded a contract from the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to study the effects of the ASAM implementation in California. The California 1115 SUD demonstration provides a unique opportunity to learn about the benefits and challenges resulting from system-wide implementation of ASAM criteria.

The study will involve surveying patients in counties that are using the ASAM criteria and in counties that have not yet adopted the ASAM criteria. Medicaid patients receiving addiction treatment will be offered the opportunity participate in the study and to be surveyed about their experiences in treatment. The study will also analyze data from the California Outcomes Management System (CalOMS) and conduct interviews with providers, patients, and policymakers in the state. The results of the study will help inform California's efforts to continually improve its addiction treatment systems to better meet the needs of it communities. This study will also produce important and useful information to patients seeking treatment for addiction, and their providers, SUD system administrators, and payers.

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Conditions studied

  • Substance Use Disorders

Keywords

  • Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI)
  • American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM)
  • substance use
  • addiction
  • treatment
  • RTI International
  • UCLA
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In context

Substance-Related Disorders

2,238 studies on the registry are indexed under Substance-Related Disorders; 409 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 991 is above the median of 251 across 299 observational studies indexed under Substance-Related Disorders.

Browse Substance-Related Disorders studies →

Lead sponsor

RTI International is the lead sponsor of 84 studies on the registry; 18 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

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Who can participate

Ages eligible
19 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No
Sampling method
Non-probability sample

Study population

Individuals age 19 or older receiving treatment for addiction in specialty addiction treatment programs licensed in California who are Medicaid beneficiaries.

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • Individuals age 19 or older
  • Receiving treatment for addiction in specialty addiction treatment programs licensed in California who are Medicaid beneficiaries.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Less than 19 years old
  • Not receiving treatment for addiction in specialty addiction treatment programs licensed in California
  • Not Medicaid beneficiaries
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Study design

Observational model
Case-control
Time perspective
Other
Enrollment
991 participants (actual)
Patient registry
No

Groups and cohorts

  • ASAM Counties/non-computerized

    Pre- and 1115-waived counties that are implementing the ASAM. Intervention is adherence to ASAM protocols.

    Other: Adherence to ASAM protocols

  • ASAM Counties/computerized

    Counties using a computerized system to assist in intervention determination according to ASAM protocols. Intervention is adherence to ASAM protocols.

    Other: Adherence to ASAM protocols

  • Non-ASAM Counties

    Pre- and non-waived "control" counties that are not implementing the ASAM. Intervention is non-adherence to ASAM protocols.

    Other: Non-adherence to ASAM protocols

Interventions

  • OtherAdherence to ASAM protocols

    ASAM Counties. These counties are requiring their providers to use ASAM criteria to assess patients and to determine level of care. These counties also use ASAM to determine the ongoing need for high-intensity services, such as residential, and approve those services for Medicaid payment.

  • OtherNon-adherence to ASAM protocols

    These counties are not implementing the ASAM criteria to assess patients and determine the level of care.

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What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Treatment Retention

    Retention in treatment for at least 14 days is a validated outcome measure and has been shown to be predictive of reduced substance use, 2-year mortality, criminal justice involvement, and detox episodes. Retention in treatment can be measured with the CalOMS data.

    Time frame: Up to one year

  2. Substance Use Reduction

    Abstinence and reduction in substance use is necessary for patients to achieve recovery and improved psychosocial functioning. We will measure this patient reported outcome (PRO) using the patient survey and CalOMS data. Through the patient survey, we will ask about use of any alcohol in the past 30 days, use of any drugs in the last 30 days, and the number of heavy drinking days in the last 30 days. These data will be collected from patients 3 months from treatment-episode initiation. Substance use is also collected from all patients treated in public SUD clinics in California at the beginning and end of each treatment episode and is recorded into the CalOMS data.

    Time frame: Up to one year

Secondary outcomes

  1. Treatment setting used at treatment initiation

    Use of the ASAM criteria is anticipated to improve treatment outcomes (i.e., treatment retention and substance use) by increasing the use of more appropriate treatment settings for each patient, such as shifting the number of patients using residential, intensive outpatient, and opioid treatment programs. The treatment setting of each patient is tracked in the CalOMS data. Specifically, use of the following types of care is captured: (1) outpatient treatment, (2) intensive outpatient treatment, (3) outpatient detoxification, (4) residential detoxification (non-hospital), (5) residential detoxification (hospital), (6) residential treatment (30 days or less), and (7) residential treatment (30 days or more). Using the CalOMS data, we will test whether the distribution of the treatment setting used at treatment initiation changes after ASAM implementation.

    Time frame: Up to one year

  2. Treatment option communication

    It is expected that ASAM implementation will improve communication from providers to patients about treatment options. We will assess this outcome through the patient survey.

    Time frame: Up to one year

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Study locations

1 site
  • RTI International
    Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27709, United States
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References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

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Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Nov 26, 2019, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT03486028
Lead sponsor
RTI International
Collaborators
University of California Integrated Substance Abuse Programs, Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Apr 3, 2018
Start date
Jul 31, 2018
Primary completion
Sep 1, 2019
Completion
Oct 27, 2019
Last update
Nov 26, 2019

Study contacts

Tami Mark, PhD, MBA
principal investigator · RTI International

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in Nov 2019. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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