Much of the coverage of addiction – in the popular press and the health care press – is focused on the acute stage of the disease. Overdoses, suicide attempts, detox, and intensive inpatient/residential stays get much of the media attention – and the investments.

But both clinical best practice and its supporting research data underscore the importance of shifting policy and practice to a chronic disease model. The disease is lifelong – as is the plan for recovery. This chronic disease model concept was reinforced by a recent study that found that the survival benefits associated with retention on medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) continued through at least four years of treatment – …