Blue Distinction Specialty Care program launches Substance Use Treatment and Recovery designation

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 130 Americans die every day from an opioid overdose, a statistic that highlights the seriousness of the opioid epidemic and how crucial it is for patients to receive comprehensive care.

To help address this issue, the Blue Distinction^® Specialty Care program has added a Blue Distinction^® Center designation for Substance Use Treatment and Recovery. It requires designated facilities to deliver coordinated multidisciplinary care to patients and provide timely access to quality medical and psychosocial care in all phases of treatment. Designated facilities must also offer medication-assisted treatment — a way to treat opioid addiction that includes a medication component and behavioral therapy.

About Blue Distinction Centers
Blue Distinction Centers are nationally designated facilities that show a commitment to delivering improved patient safety and better health outcomes, based on objective measures that were developed with input from the community and leading accreditation and quality organizations. In addition to this new designation, the Blue Distinction Specialty Care program is helping people find quality specialty care in the areas of bariatric surgery, cancer care, cardiac care, cellular immunotherapy, fertility care, gene therapy, knee and hip replacements, maternity care, spine surgery and transplants.

For more information about Blue Distinction Specialty Care and for a complete listing of designated facilities in 11 areas of specialty care, visit bcbsm.com/bluedistinction.