HRSA Rural Communities Opioid Response Program Award Recipients Generally Met All Core Activities and Benchmarks

Why OIG Did This Audit

• The opioid crisis has impacted rural communities where barriers to treatment services limit access to care. The Rural Communities Opioid Response Program (RCORP) is a multiyear initiative that works toward meeting HHS’s goal of ending the opioid epidemic by addressing the barriers to treatment for substance and opioid use disorder.
• In 2019, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) awarded $8.3 million to 12 eligible rural hospitals, clinics, and Tribal organizations through its RCORP Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) Expansion award to support establishing or expanding MAT programs in rural communities.
• This audit assessed whether the RCORP MAT Expansion award recipients met the five required core activities and three proposed benchmarks within the grant period.

What OIG Found

• Ten of the 12 award recipients implemented all 5 required core activities, and 2 award recipients implemented 4 of the 5 required core activities.
• Ten award recipients met two of the three proposed benchmarks, and two award recipients met only one of the three proposed benchmarks. We were unable to determine whether any of the award recipients met the proposed benchmark to increase the number of unique patients.
• Award recipients reported challenges in establishing or expanding their MAT programs in rural communities, including lack of transportation, hiring and retaining staff, the COVID-19 pandemic, and lack of recovery housing.

What OIG Recommends

This report does not contain recommendations.

HRSA informed us that it did not have comments on our draft report.