Millions of federal employees who are in the Federal Employees Health Benefits program will now be covered for a medical procedure to help eliminate substance abuse. Doctors can use the Screening and Brief Intervention procedure to check patients for a full spectrum of substance-use behaviors, including for alcohol, illicit drugs and prescription drug abuse/addiction, and provide appropriate intervention, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy said on April 7 in a press release.

The American Medical Association’s Current Procedural Terminology codes 99408 and 99409, which became effective January 2008, describe physicians’ screening and brief intervention of patients for alcohol and substance abuse. Physicians use the codes to report and bill their services to insurers.

Carriers participating in the Federal Employees Health Benefits program should review the new CPT codes for SBI, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management said.       

“SBI is a medical procedure that aims to break the cycle of drug and alcohol abuse and addiction, and the negative consequences resulting from these behaviors,” the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy said in the release. “SBI procedures are performed in primary medical settings, like doctors’ offices, emergency and trauma centers, pediatric and prenatal care clinics, and school-based healthcare settings.” About 5.6 million federal workers will be insured for the procedure.

The 2007 National Survey on Drug Use and Health determined that more than 20 million Americans meet the clinical definition of substance abuse or addiction, and about 95 percent of them are unaware of their problem or have not sought professional treatment.

SBI allows doctors and patients to discuss the harms of substance abuse, risks for the disease of addiction, and strategies to help patients achieve sobriety. Doctors can also use SBI to refer patients to an appropriate level of care or specialty treatment.

“By opening the lines of communication between doctors and patients, SBI can help identify users and reduce substance use and its associated consequences,” said Bertha Madras, PhD, deputy director for demand reduction at the Office of National Drug Control Policy.