Infectious Disease — Special Topics — Home

In addition to discussing the connection between substance abuse and infectious diseases, the Substance Abuse and Infectious Disease Cross-Training also addresses systems support and development, patient confidentiality, and Qualified Service Organization Agreements (QSOAs). For States interested in further training on confidentiality and QSOAs, the Cross-Training staff may suggest that the State contact the Legal Action Center (LAC) for more in-depth training.

For the past two and a half years, the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) has been offering training on confidentiality of patient records for States and for substance abuse treatment providers funded through the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant (SAPTBG) program. The training explains the Federal substance abuse confidentiality law and regulations (42 CFR Part 2) protecting patient records from disclosure. In drafting this law, Congress recognized that safeguards on privacy serve the important purpose of encouraging persons to seek addiction care by preventing the disclosure of information related to their substance abuse diagnosis and treatment that could stigmatize them in their communities.

The training, provided under contract with the Legal Action Center (LAC), is customized to educate State personnel and treatment providers, as well as persons from other State systems such as social welfare, Medicaid, mental health, public health and criminal justice, about both State and Federal confidentiality laws that apply to their mutual clients. The goal of this training is to facilitate collaboration between these systems, promoting mutual understanding of what client information can be shared and how.

There seems to be a very logical and natural fit between the LAC training and the Substance Abuse and Infectious Disease Cross-Training project. In particular, it is useful for providers to have Qualified Service Organization Agreements (QSOA's) in place before introducing the cross-training. The LAC training covers QSOA's, which enable client information exchange between systems, in some detail and provides model agreements. For States that do NOT already have these Agreements in place, an LAC phone consultation or training may be advisable. This can be determined in initial discussions following CSAT approval of a cross-training request. If a training is desired, the training format is on-site, with up to 100 persons attending a one or two-day session. Some follow-up telephone assistance, including review of proposed QSOA's is also available. It is most helpful if State attorneys are involved in the actual training sessions.

For basic information regarding QSOAs, States should consult CSAT's Technical Assistance Publication (TAP) #13, Confidentiality of Patient Records for Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment (page 4 discusses QSOAs and pages 21 and 22 are sample Agreements). For further information on confidentiality training or consultation through CSAT's contract with LAC, contact Project Officer Gayle Saunders or call (240) 276-2905.

Special Topics Archive