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“Quick Access” Tools for Treatment Improvement Protocols

By Riggin Waugh

For busy substance abuse treatment providers, counselors, and other professionals who use SAMHSA’s Treatment Improvement Protocols (TIPs), SAMHSA offers “quick access” reference tools—KAP Keys and Quick Guides. Compact and easy to use, these tools are helpful supplements to specific TIPs.

Developed by SAMHSA’s Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) through its Knowledge Application Program (KAP), TIPs are best-practice guidelines for the treatment of substance abuse. Corresponding Quick Guides and KAP Keys offer useful shortcuts to navigate the 200-plus pages of an average TIP.

CSAT’s Division of Services Improvement draws on the experience and knowledge of clinical, research, and administrative experts to produce publications in the TIP series. Currently, there are approximately 45 TIPs available on SAMHSA’s KAP Web site, and most of these TIPs have accompanying Quick Guides and KAP Keys. They include concise evidence-based information that corresponds to the page numbers and chapters in a specific TIP.

Most TIPs usually focus on a single topic such as medication-assisted treatment (MAT), co-occurring disorders, or screening. For example, TIP 43—Medication-Assisted Treatment for Opioid Addiction in Opioid Treatment Programs—presents current information about opioid use disorders and treatment options.

KAP Keys

KAP Keys are handy, durable tools that contain assessment or screening instruments, checklists, summaries of treatment phases, lists of “red flags,” and other information from the source TIP. KAP Keys provide information in short tables or bulleted lists to encourage easy access to specific facts about treatment services.

Printed on coated card stock, KAP Keys are looped together by a metal ring that can be opened as needed.

A set of KAP Keys can be kept within reach in almost any clinical setting to allow providers to reference information easily and ensure accuracy.

In the case of TIP 43, the KAP Keys address topics including assessments for MAT, information obtained about and provided to patients during screening and admission, medications or substances that alter opioid medication levels in the body, and characteristics of a treatment plan and a multidisciplinary team.

Quick Guides

In a pocket-sized format, Quick Guides are divided into sections to help clinicians or administrators locate relevant material conveniently. For most TIPs, there is a companion Quick Guide for Clinicians and a Quick Guide for Administrators.

For example, the Quick Guide for Clinicians Based on TIP 43 is divided into 13 sections to help readers locate specific information including basic MAT principles, regulatory requirements, and evidence-based best practices in opioid treatment programs.

TIP 43’s Quick Guide includes coverage of screening, admission, assessment, phases of treatment, patient retention, drug testing, and treatment planning for patients with special needs.

Other KAP products include screening tools, periodicals, treatment manuals, and consumer brochures, as well as the TIP series. To date, SAMHSA has disseminated more than 4 million KAP products since the launch of the program in 1999.

To obtain free copies of TIPs, Quick Guides, and KAP Keys, contact SAMHSA’s National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information at 1 (800) 729-6686 (English and Spanish) or 1 (800) 487-4889 (TDD).

Online, TIPS, Quick Guides, and KAP Keys are available from SAMHSA’s KAP Web site at www.kap.samhsa.gov.