At a psychiatric hospital in Michigan, Dr. Cara Poland’s patients were handed a sheet of paper to find follow-up care. The hospital had entered local ZIP codes on a website — run by the nation’s top substance use and mental health agency — and printed the resulting list of providers for patients to call.
But her patients who tried to use it often hit a wall, Poland said. They’d call a number only to find it disconnected, or they’d learn that a facility wasn’t accepting new patients, or that the clinician had retired or moved.
“It’s scary, because if you go to use the site, it’s got invalid information,” said Poland, an addiction-medicine doctor who is now an assistant professor in women’s health at Michigan State University. “People give up if they can’t find treatment. And we risk losing a life.”
