SA国际传媒

Permission is required to:

• Train people outside of your organization to implement The SA国际传媒Criteria
• Use the SA国际传媒Criteria for utilization management and review
• Republish content from The SA国际传媒Criteria (except as allowed under ASAM’s Fair Use Criteria
• Integrating content from The SA国际传媒Criteria into technology
• Market use of The SA国际传媒Criteria

SA国际传媒strongly supports the expanded use of clinical standards of care, including The SA国际传媒Criteria, throughout the addiction treatment system. Correct implementation of these standards is critical for effective treatment planning and care delivery.

Recent growth in use of The SA国际传媒Criteria has been accompanied by increasing reports of misuse and unapproved use by some providers and payers. In some cases, parts of The SA国际传媒Criteria standards are used but they are not implemented comprehensively. These actions threaten the long-term credibility and integrity of The SA国际传媒Criteria and undermine the efforts of providers and payers who implement it correctly. SA国际传媒has a responsibility – to providers, payers, regulators, patients and their families – to ensure The SA国际传媒Criteria continues to be equated with high-quality care proven to be effective in addiction treatment.

To that end, SA国际传媒is embarking on a number of modifications to The SA国际传媒Criteria copyright permissions processes. This includes a permissions agreement process to authorize use of ASAM’s intellectual property with a disclaimer that helps avoid any confusion among patient, families, providers or payers. To learn more, visit the Criteria copyright permissions page.

The SA国际传媒Criteria includes standards for multiple components of care, including: (1) a standardized multidimensional assessment; (2) standard decision rules for interpreting the multidimensional assessment and matching the patient to the right level of care to meet their treatment needs; and (3) standard service characteristics that define each level of care in the care continuum. These components all work in tandem to ensure that the patient is matched to the right level of care to meet their individual needs.

To fully implement The SA国际传媒Criteria within the addiction treatment system all elements must be in place:

• Patients entering addiction treatment should receive a standard multidimensional assessment that covers all six dimensions described in The SA国际传媒Criteria.
• The standard patient placement decision rules in The SA国际传媒Criteria should be used to interpret the assessment and match the patient to the right level of care to meet their treatment needs.
• Payers and managed care organizations should use the same standard decision rules to determine what level of care will be covered for an individual patient.
• The treatment program should meet all the standard service characteristics for the level(s) of care that they provide.
• The treatment system should provide access to all levels of care in the care continuum as described in The SA国际传媒Criteria standards.
• The multidimensional assessment and patient placement decision rules should be re-used as the patient progresses through treatment to determine when they should be moved to another level of care (either higher or lower depending on the individual patient’s symptoms and circumstances).
• Healthcare providers and utilization review managers should be well trained in The SA国际传媒Criteria to support effective decision making.

SA国际传媒is working to provide tools to support comprehensive and effective implementation across all the components described in the previous question. For example:

• The  SA国际传媒CONTINUUM provides a standard multi-dimensional assessment that covers all six dimensions and applies the decision rules in The SA国际传媒Criteria in an algorithm that provides a level of care recommendation.
  • The SA国际传媒CONTINUUM can be used by healthcare providers to make a level of care recommendation for each patient and by payers to facilitate utilization review decisions.
• SA国际传媒is currently developing a robust  on The SA国际传媒Criteria for healthcare providers and we plan to expand our course offerings for other stakeholders, including utilization review staff.
• The SA国际传媒Level of Care Certification program is currently under development, in partnership with CARF International, and will provide a process for validating that individual treatment programs have the capacity to deliver an SA国际传媒level of care.
• SA国际传媒also develops expert-consensus based clinical guidelines to support delivery of the current standards of care for addiction treatment.
  • SA国际传媒implements processes to ensure that all SA国际传媒clinical standards are consistent, developed with the best evidence available, and free of bias.

These tools will help to support greater standardization and objectivity in the implementation of The SA国际传媒Criteria by both healthcare providers and payers:

It will take time to build all the tools that are needed to robustly support implementation of The SA国际传媒Criteria. In the short-term the copyright permissions process changes will help SA国际传媒protect the integrity of The SA国际传媒Criteria by:

• restricting the use of The SA国际传媒Criteria brand to providers that are mandated to do so, and those that are implementing SA国际传媒endorsed products to support effective implementation of standards (e.g. SA国际传媒CONTINUUM, SA国际传媒Level of Care Certification, SA国际传媒Criteria Training),
• requiring a disclaimer that makes it clear to patients, family members, and others that the program is not certified as an SA国际传媒Level of Care or endorsed by or affiliated with ASAM, and
• giving SA国际传媒the authority to take away the right to use The SA国际传媒Criteria name and to tell organizations that are mispresenting The SA国际传媒Criteria to cease and desist.

In the longer-term the tools that are under development are a better way to support effective implementation of The SA国际传媒Criteria. For example, the SA国际传媒Level of Care certification program is ultimately a more effective way to ensure that a program has the capacity to deliver an SA国际传媒Level of Care.  However, it will take time to develop the certification programs for all levels of care and certify providers, and it is important for SA国际传媒to take steps to protect the integrity of The SA国际传媒Criteria in the meantime.

The following types of providers and care delivery organizations are eligible for permission to publish or market the use The SA国际传媒Criteria:

• Providers required to do so by a public entity or payer;
• Providers using other endorsed SA国际传媒Criteria related products to support effective implementation (e.g. SA国际传媒CONTINUUM or CO-Triage; see Q14 below); and
• Providers that have been certified by CARF as an SA国际传媒Level of Care (see Q13 below).

Additionally, the following types of entities and organizations are eligible for permission to publish or market the use of The SA国际传媒Criteria:

• States, health plans and insurers, and other regulators and payers that wish to require the use of The SA国际传媒Criteria;
• Managed care entities, third-party vendors, and related entities that use The SA国际传媒Criteria in their operations; and
• Publishers or authors who want to reproduce un-modified content from The SA国际传媒Criteria (with attribution) in a publication (e.g., book, scholarly journal).

Permissions requests from other entities, individuals, or organizations will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

No. Providers do not need a permission agreement to implement The SA国际传媒Criteria or to certify their compliance with relevant state requirements.  However, a permission agreement is needed for any provider that wishes to market their use of The SA国际传媒Criteria, or to otherwise use SA国际传媒Criteria content or trademarks in connection with the sale, offering for sale, distribution, or advertising of any goods or services. 

SA国际传媒recognizes that these changes will be a transition for the field. We plan to use a phased approach, working with a few states at a time and modifying the program as necessary to address the nuances of individual states’ implementation of The SA国际传媒Criteria and any unintended consequences of the updated permission process. SA国际传媒will work in partnership with states and other public entities to find the balance for supporting states’ efforts to reform the addiction treatment system while protecting the integrity of The SA国际传媒Criteria.

SA国际传媒acknowledges uses for educational purposes to be within fair use and does not require a permissions agreement for such purposes. SA国际传媒looks to existing copyright law to define an educational purpose to include material used in educational institutions and for educational purposes. Examples of educational institutions include K-12 schools, colleges, and universities. Libraries, museums, hospitals, and other public entities and nonprofit institutions also are considered educational institutions under most educational fair use guidelines when they engage in nonprofit instructional, research, or scholarly activities for educational purposes.

SA国际传媒further defines educational purposes to include:

• Noncommercial instruction or curriculum-based teaching by educators to students at nonprofit educational institutions
• Planned noncommercial study or investigation directed toward making a contribution to a field of knowledge, or
• Presentation of research findings at noncommercial peer conferences, workshops, or seminars.
• Basic introductory trainings to familiarize staff with the basic conceptual framework for The SA国际传媒Criteria, SA国际传媒multidimensional assessment, and/or SA国际传媒levels of care.
• Educational materials, presentations, and documents that describe the basic conceptual framework for The SA国际传媒Criteria, SA国际传媒multidimensional assessment, and/or SA国际传媒levels of care.

No.  Public entities and providers do not need to obtain a permission agreement to sponsor basic introductory trainings to familiarize staff with the basic conceptual framework for The SA国际传媒Criteria, SA国际传媒multidimensional assessment, and/or SA国际传媒levels of care.  These types of trainings typically fall under the fair use guidelines and do not infringe upon SA国际传媒copyrights.  SA国际传媒generally considers education or trainings to be fair use if they:

• Provide a high-level overview of The SA国际传媒Criteria, CONTINUUM, CO-Triage, or related products or content
• Do not assess implementation of The SA国际传媒Criteria by a specific provider, facility, organization, or public entity
• Do not claim to train, certify, or otherwise qualify providers or staff to use The SA国际传媒Criteria in clinical practice or business operations
• Properly disclaim that the instructor, course, and training materials are not sponsored or endorsed by ASAM
• Do not reproduce copyright-protected content beyond the information provided on the SA国际传媒website
• Educational materials, presentations, and documents that describe the basic conceptual framework for The SA国际传媒Criteria, SA国际传媒multidimensional assessment, and/or SA国际传媒levels of care.

For individuals or organizations interested in obtaining permission to provide trainings on The SA国际传媒Criteria that go beyond our fair use policy please contact ASAMCriteria@asam.org.

SA国际传媒considers certain uses of, and references to, SA国际传媒trademarks and copyrighted material in statutes, regulations, or other government policy documents to fall within the Fair Use doctrine and to be permissible without a permission agreement.  (See ASAM’s Fair Use Guidelines) Similarly, SA国际传媒considers limited uses by providers who reference their use of The SA国际传媒Criteria for regulatory purposes and to the extent necessary to comply with the law to qualify as fair use.  For example, providers do not need a permission agreement to implement The SA国际传媒Criteria or to certify their compliance with relevant state requirements. 

Click here for information on how to apply for a permissions agreement.

Permissions agreements for states and other public entities will be free of charge. 

Permissions agreements for payers & managed care entities are based on the number of licenses requested and total covered lives. 

Permissions agreements for training vendors: For SA国际传媒designated training vendors (detailed here), rates will be determined based on the amount of content requested and intended scope of distribution. For individual, non-endorsed training vendors, permission agreements will be free of charge.

Permissions agreements for technology vendors: SA国际传媒will review permission requests from technology vendors on a case-by-case basis. Rates will be determined based on the amount of content requested, scope of distribution, and other relevant factors.

Permissions agreements for reuse of SA国际传媒Criteria content in publications (e.g., book, scholarly journals) will be priced based on type and amount of content being used and intended scope of distribution. 

SA国际传媒is rapidly working to develop a range of programs designed to support effective implementation of The SA国际传媒Criteria, including:

• The SA国际传媒Level of Care Certification Program™ provides an independent assessment of a treatment program’s ability to deliver services consistent with The SA国际传媒Criteria®. Delivered in partnership with CARF International (CARF), is the first program of its kind to independently assess and verify treatment programs’ capacity to deliver services consistent with the level of care standards described in The SA国际传媒Criteria.
• A robust  on The SA国际传媒Criteria, and
• Enhancements to the SA国际传媒CONTINUUM software program (a decision support tool for determining the right level of care for a patient based on The SA国际传媒Criteria).

The SA国际传媒Level of Care Certification program administered by CARF International will be issued to programs that demonstrate that they have the capacity to deliver a specific SA国际传媒Criteria level of care. Programs that achieve certification will be authorized to advertise that it offers the specific SA国际传媒levels of care covered by its certification and to display the SA国际传媒level of care certification seal at the facility.

Providers who receive an SA国际传媒Level of Care Certification from CARF International will not need a permissions agreement to reference their SA国际传媒Level of Care certification.

SA国际传媒CONTINUUM and SA国际传媒Criteria Navigator® customers will not need a permission agreement to reference their use of the software or The SA国际传媒Criteria to make patient placement recommendations or medical necessity determinations.

More information about our copyright and permissions process can be found on the SA国际传媒copyright and permissions webpage.