AMERSA Talks

Phil McNamara, Bella Wilklow, and Elizabeth Abbs, Enhancing Treatment Access: How collaboration with multidisciplinary providers and community members increases connection to long term care.

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This episode will focus on the outreach and support service efforts within MATTERS that address barriers to treatment for opioid use disorder. While MATTERS is widely recognized for its harm reduction efforts, this episode will dig deeper into the essential support structures that make treatment more accessible, which can enhance the likelihood of a successful connection once referrals are made.

The episode will cover how the program uses emergency telemedicine, peer networks, and wraparound programs to address barriers such as lack of insurance, transportation, and stigma. Additionally, it will discuss how follow-up with individuals navigating treatment helps to inform decision-making when it comes to the services MATTERS offers and how they communicate and interact with providers and partnering organizations

Learning Objectives

  • Identify means of creating a tailored referral system that streamlines connection to addiction medicine after jail or hospitalization to reduce barriers for patients seeking medications for OUD
  • Demonstrate the critical role of community health navigation in successful care linkage

Host & Guest Bios

  • Dr. Elizabeth Abbs is a primary care addiction medicine provider in San Francisco. She cares for a complex cohort of patients who live in the Tenderloin neighborhood - many of whom use drugs. Her work at the San Francisco Department of Public Health focuses on reducing barriers to care for patients accessing medications for their substance use disorder, incentivizing harm reduction efforts, and improving safe (and compassionate) prescribing of controlled medications for chronic pain.
  • Phil McNamara is the Outreach Manager at MATTERS Network. Leading a team of Regional Outreach Coordinators across NYS, connecting individuals to outpatient follow-up care and harm reduction resources. He has a background as an SUD Counselor specializing in MOUD at a Buffalo-based OTP, and as a Community Outreach Coordinator specializing in HCV Linkage and Harm Reduction. Phil is the founder of Buffalo Resilience a nonprofit providing meals and harm reduction supplies & training to underserved communities in WNY. He believes that a strong community can offer many different paths to recovery and is passionate about building strong community connections.
  • Isabella Wilklow is the Support Services Coordinator at MATTERS, where she assists individuals seeking connection to treatment for opioid use disorder. Her work is rooted in advocacy & compassion.

Timestamps:

  • [00:00:46] – Introduction to the MATTERS program
  • Dr. Elizabeth Abs introduces Phil McNamara and Bella Wilklow, and explains what MATTERS is.
  • [00:03:33] – How MATTERS connects individuals to MOUD in 24 hours
  • Description of the MATTERS system, telehealth services, and free medication/transportation.
  • [00:06:57] – Dr. Lynch’s motivation and the emergency room barrier loop
  • Phil McNamara shares the founding story and why paper referrals weren't working.
  • [00:09:27] – Transportation and medication vouchers explained
  • How MATTERS added practical solutions like vouchers to address

Find us online at amersa.org, and see our tweets at x.com/AMERSA_tweets.

Funding for this initiative was made possible by cooperative agreement no. 1H79TI086770 from SAMHSA. The views expressed in written conference materials or publications and by speakers and moderators do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the Department of Health and Human Services; nor does mention of trade names, commercial practices, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

Learn more about PCSS-MOUD at pcssnow.org.

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