What Is NIATx?

The Network for the Improvement of Addiction Treatment (NIATx) teaches drug and alcohol treatment centers to use process improvement strategies to improve access to and retention in addiction treatment.

Less than 10 percent of Americans who need substance abuse treatment each year get the help they need, according to SAMHSA’s 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. NIATx seeks to change that.

A partnership among SAMHSA’s Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and other organizations, NIATx helps treatment providers break down barriers to care. The ultimate goal is to improve evidence-based treatment.

NIATx focuses on four specific goals: reducing the time between a request for help and a client’s first treatment session, reducing the number of clients who don’t show up for appointments, increasing the number of treatment admissions, and increasing the number of clients who make it to the fourth treatment session. To achieve these goals, participants tackle one barrier after another in a rapid cycle of identifying a problem, testing solutions, and evaluating results (see What Is Process Improvement?).

For more information about NIATx, visit www.niatx.net/Content/ContentPage.aspx?NID=232, which includes the Resource Guide to Process Improvement and other resources.

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