The American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) recently released Standards of Care: For the Addiction Specialist Physician. TheStandards outline the responsibilities of addiction medicine specialists in the areas of assessment and diagnosis, withdrawal management, treatment planning, treatment management, care transitions and care coordination, and continuing care management. There is one sentence in the Standards that deserves particular acknowledgement: "Recovery check-ups by addiction specialist physicians, just as those by primary care physicians or other providers, may promote sustained recovery and prevent relapse" (p. 13).
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