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Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) is an evidence-based model for the assessment and treatment of substance use disorders in primary care settings. However, medical providers infrequently implement SBIRT due to a variety of clinical, operational, and training barriers. Although some of these barriers have been quantitatively investigated, very few researchers have utilized a qualitative design to explore these barriers. A focus group design was used to study academic and community healthcare clinic providers' experiences implementing SBIRT. As a result, 5 primary themes and 15 subthemes emerged that add depth and description to the available literature: patient-centered characteristics, provider-centered characteristics, operational impacts, SBIRT benefits, and patient-provider interfacing. A comparison between current study results and past literature are provided, as well as suggestions for future research and clinical practice.
There is previous research that delineates the benefits and justifications for SBIRT. Specifically, the importance of early detection of substance use disorders and their resulting physical, emotional, and mental impact on society have also been affirmed by other researchers (Finnell, 2013; Ino & Cho, 2013; O'Brien, Leonard, & Deering, 2012; Young et al., 2012). These researchers noted that early detection decreases the burden of future disease (Finnell, 2013, Young et al., 2012), prevents progression to alcohol dependence (Ino & Cho, 2013), improves treatment outcomes (Young et al., 2012), and decreases the likelihood of serious consequences (O'Brien, Leonard, & Deering, 2012). Some of these serious consequences include physical, emotional, and mental aspects of the patient including increased mortality, medication, and substance use interactions (Finnell, 2013), and risky behaviors, such as drinking and driving (Sommers et al., 2013); all of which can be reduced by SBIRT implementation (Finnell, 2013, Ino & Cho, 2013; O'Brien, Leonard, & Deering, 2012; Sommers et al., 2013; Young et al., 2012). Research has also identified further benefits of SBIRT, which include the cost effectiveness of the program (Bernstein & D'Onofrio, 2013; Finnell, 2013; Ino & Cho, 2013; Young et al., 2012), the fo- cus on treating substance use disorders as a continuum of drinking and substance behavior, the satisfaction reported by patients and families, and the strengthening of the therapeutic relationship (Ino & Cho, 2013).
Over the past 25 years. Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) has slowly become...