START Treatment & Recovery Centers Earns 3 YR CARF Accreditation

Harlem NY

03 June, 2021

4:40 PM

Description

CARF International, founded as the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities, announced that START Treatment & Recovery Centers has earned the maximum three-year accreditation for its seven Medication Assisted Treatment Programs (MATPs) in Brooklyn and Manhattan. This is the eighth consecutive, three-year accreditation that START has received from the nonprofit, independent accrediting organization. START, a non-profit, is New York’s largest independent drug treatment agency, and has treated more than a half million New Yorkers since it was founded 52-years ago. “We are proud to receive our eighth consecutive, three-year CARF accreditation,” said Lawrence S. Brown, Jr., MD, MPH, FACP, DFASAM, START’s CEO. “This accreditation reflects the high quality of START’s Medication Assisted Treatment Programs, and the dedication and expertise of our physicians, nurses, counselors, social workers and staff. As we emerge from the COVID pandemic, treatment for people with substance use issues is more critical than ever.” The three-year designation is CARF’s highest level of accreditation and shows START’s substantial conformance to CARF’s meticulous standards. According to CARF, an organization receiving three-year accreditation has put itself through a rigorous peer review process. It has demonstrated to a team of surveyors its commitment to offering programs and services that are measurable, accountable, and of the highest quality. START offers seven outpatient MATPs for people addicted to opioids. Medication Assisted Treatment—the most effective, evidence-based treatment for opioid addiction—uses medications called opiate agonists to relieve physical cravings without producing the drug’s euphoria or high. Patients also receive individual, group and family counseling from Credentialed Alcohol and Substance Abuse Counselors and/or licensed social workers, a critical element of recovery that helps people learn to change their habits. All patients are screened for substance use and addiction, hypertension, diabetes, hepatitis, asthma, HIV infections and other communicable disease. START provides comprehensive primary care and management of ongoing medical issues, and referrals to specialists when necessary. It provides primary medical treatment, evaluations, case management, counseling, education, and testing services for all HIV-positive patients, funded in part through grants from the New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute and the New York State Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS). Hepatitis C treatment is provided through referral to a specialist or via telemedicine. START’s MATPs are licensed by OASAS and certified by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The New York State Department of Health (DOH) licenses START to provide primary care services and serve as a limited-service laboratory, and it is registered with the Drug Enforcement Agency to store and dispense controlled substances. Patients with other substance-use disorders, including addiction to cocaine or alcohol, are eligible to receive outpatient treatment at START’s REACH clinic, which provides individual, group, family and intensive counseling, and evaluation by a psychiatrist. It is possible for patients to enroll in both the MATPs and the REACH program. # # #