University of New Mexico starts contingency management program for methadone patients with stimulant use

The University of New Mexico School of Medicine has launched COMPASS, a 12-week contingency management program at an Albuquerque opioid treatment clinic for patients on methadone who also use stimulants. The effort aims to make evidence-based support for methamphetamine and cocaine use available inside existing opioid care.

Why it matters: - Stimulant use can complicate methadone treatment for opioid use disorder, leaving patients with an added need that is not always addressed in the same care setting. - COMPASS is designed to bring stimulant-use support into the clinic where patients already receive methadone, reducing barriers to care coordination. - The model could make evidence-based contingency management easier to access for patients who need help with methamphetamine or cocaine use.

What happened: - The University of New Mexico School of Medicine launched COMPASS, short for Contingency-based Outcomes for Methamphetamine and Polysubstance Support. - The 12-week program is operating at MedMark Five Points, an opioid treatment program in Albuquerque. - The program supports patients receiving methadone treatment who also need help with stimulant use. - Contingency Management Innovations supports the project with a technology platform for program administration and tracking.

The details: - COMPASS uses contingency management, an evidence-based behavioral intervention that reinforces progress toward treatment goals. - Participants can receive escalating incentives for stimulant-negative urine drug tests over 12 weeks. - COMPASS staff work alongside clinic teams to integrate referrals, testing and incentive administration into existing workflows. - The clinic-based structure is intended to improve coordination among academic researchers, treatment providers, counselors and program staff. - Kimberly A. Page, professor in the Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Preventive Medicine at UNM, said the program gives patients practical, evidence-based support as part of the care they are already receiving. - Steve Jenkins, CEO of Contingency Management Innovations, said the collaboration shows how evidence-based interventions can be integrated into existing treatment services and made more accessible. - CMI says its platform supports more than 15,000 patients and beneficiaries across more than 140 clinics. - CMI says the platform has captured more than 310,000 toxicology results and supported more than 300,000 awards. - CMI says more than $4.6 million in incentives have been earned and distributed through the platform.

Between the lines: - The launch reflects a growing push to treat stimulant use and opioid use disorder together instead of as separate problems. - Embedding contingency management in a methadone clinic may help reduce dropout and missed connections between services, because patients do not need to navigate another system. - The project also gives UNM a real-world setting to test how research-backed behavioral care works in routine treatment.

What's next: - COMPASS will run for 12 weeks with escalating incentives tied to stimulant-negative urine tests. - The clinic-based workflow will continue to depend on coordination among UNM, MedMark Five Points and CMI. - The broader effort could inform whether contingency management is easier to scale inside existing opioid treatment programs.