Substance use disorder treatment program consulting
Whether you are opening an outpatient substance use disorder treatment program, adding medication-assisted treatment, or preparing an existing program for licensure and accreditation, the work is the same: a defensible level-of-care model, documentation that holds up under review, and privacy practices built for Part 2 records.
How we support substance use disorder treatment programs
ASAM level-of-care design
Building your service array around the ASAM Criteria — from early intervention and outpatient (1.0) through intensive outpatient and partial hospitalization (2.1/2.5) to residential levels — with placement, continued-stay, and transfer logic your clinicians can apply consistently.
MAT and withdrawal management
Medication-assisted treatment workflow for buprenorphine, naltrexone, and methadone referral relationships: prescriber coverage, induction and stabilization protocols, toxicology policy, overdose-prevention supplies, and coordination with withdrawal management partners.
Assessment and documentation
Biopsychosocial and ASAM-aligned assessments, problem-based treatment plans, group and individual note standards, and discharge and continuing-care documentation that supports medical necessity when a payer or surveyor reads the chart.
42 CFR Part 2 and privacy
SUD records carry protections beyond HIPAA. We build consent, redisclosure, care-coordination, and subpoena-response practices that keep information flowing where treatment requires it and locked down everywhere else.
Licensure and accreditation readiness
State SUD licensure applications and CARF or Joint Commission preparation — policy manual, personnel files, performance improvement plan, mock survey, and the corrective-action follow-through surveyors look for.
Medicaid, billing, and outcomes
Service definitions mapped to billable codes, utilization review readiness, documentation-to-claim alignment, and an outcomes dashboard covering retention, completion, and recurrence of use that payers increasingly ask to see.
Where programs most often get findings
- Treatment plans that restate the assessment instead of setting measurable objectives.
- Group notes that are identical across clients in the same session.
- ASAM dimension ratings recorded at admission and never revisited for continued stay.
- Consents that do not meet Part 2 content requirements or lack redisclosure notice.
- Toxicology policy that is not applied consistently or not tied to clinical response.
Assessment tools you can use today
Our Clinical Assessment Library includes ASAM biopsychosocial assessments for adults, adolescents, older adults, and perinatal clients, plus co-occurring and case management formats — editable and unbranded for your program.
Browse the Clinical Assessment LibrarySubstance use disorder treatment questions we hear most
What are the ASAM levels of care?
The ASAM Criteria describe a continuum: early intervention (0.5), outpatient (1.0), intensive outpatient (2.1), partial hospitalization (2.5), clinically managed and medically monitored residential levels (3.x), and medically managed intensive inpatient (4.0). Programs are certified for specific levels, and placement is driven by six assessment dimensions rather than diagnosis alone.
What is required to open an outpatient SUD treatment program?
Generally: state SUD facility licensure, qualified clinical and medical leadership, an approved policy and procedure manual, ASAM-aligned assessment and treatment planning, 42 CFR Part 2-compliant records handling, and payer contracts or Medicaid enrollment for the levels of care you intend to bill.
Do we need CARF accreditation?
Not universally, but many state Medicaid programs and commercial payers either require it or price contracts around it. If accreditation is on your roadmap, building the policy and performance-improvement structure now is far cheaper than retrofitting it before a survey.
How does 42 CFR Part 2 differ from HIPAA?
Part 2 restricts disclosure of records from federally assisted SUD programs more tightly than HIPAA, with specific consent content, redisclosure notice, and limits on use in legal proceedings. Programs that treat Part 2 as 'HIPAA plus a form' are the ones that get findings.
Talk through your program
Bring your intended levels of care, payer mix, and timeline. We will identify the licensure, staffing, and documentation requirements that drive the schedule.
Book a consultation