Outcomes of a Quality Improvement Project: Screening for Adverse Childhood Experiences in Medication-Assisted Treatment.

BACKGROUND

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are traumatic childhood events that alter biopsychological markers of the human body, causing significant damaging lifelong effects and increasing health risk behavior, including substance use disorder (SUD).

OBJECTIVE

This project evaluated an ACE screening tool in medication-assisted treatment (MAT) patients at a federally qualified healthcare center (FQHC) via a handheld patient tablet.

METHODS

All MAT patients received the 10-question Kaiser Permanente ACE screening tool; 192 patients () (98 men and 94 women) completed the ACE screening. Age and gender demographics were collected. Pre- and post-ACE screening behavioral health (BH) referral rates were measured utilizing electronic health record (EHR) reports. After 3 months, post-ACE screening BH referral rates were compared to pre-ACE screening rates from the same 3 months of the previous year.

RESULTS

Post-ACE screening increased BH referrals by 29.76%, a statistically significant finding ( < .00001).

CONCLUSION

Screening for ACEs in MAT clinics is an effective trauma-informed intervention to increase BH referrals.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING

Using technology to incorporate ACE screening in MAT is feasible and provides a deeper understanding of a patient's mental health and trauma history.