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All Joshua Medical Staff ! e All Joshua medical sta " includes family practice specialists Robert J. Ball, M.D., (also certi # ed in addiction medicine), Stella Je " eries, CRNP, and Debra Vereen, M.D. Ball, a native of Jamaica, is a graduate of Howard University College of Medicine who completed his residency at George Washington University. Je " eries graduated from the University of Maryland, Baltimore in 2003 and earned her Masters at the Catholic University of America, Washington DC in 2008. Je " eries is an Adult Practitioner that works with adults with multiple co-morbidities, psychiatric illnesses and other primary care health conditions. She is a Vivitrol Provider as well as a Licensed Marijuana Provider for Georgetown University School of Medicine in 1996, and completed a residency at George Washington University Hospital. She is a $ liated with Southern Maryland Hospital Center. Support personnel include head medical assistant and o $ ce manager Rosemary Porter, and medical assistants Nicole Winston and Dashawn James. the State of Maryland. Vereen graduated from

Medication plus counseling ! e development of drugs like suboxone and vivitrol have been one of the most important advances in addiction treatment, Ball notes. All Joshua clients who receive medication-assisted treatment begin to taper the dose o " a % er one year, based on the judgment of their physicians. Others continue to receive it longer; the average duration of medicated assisted treatment for opiate addiction is about two years. ! e fact that All Joshua is equipped to provide on-site counseling to clients who are receiving medication-assisted treatment is important, Ball says. “It’s a big-time advantage that our clients can get counseling while they are waiting [to receive suboxone or vivitrol.]” Sometimes, even when health care professionals have the tools to give people the help they need, their ability to deliver care is limited by external factors, like location, and di " erences in the reimbursement policies of public and private payers. ! at is the case with addiction treatment, Ball says. In treating opiate addiction, the number one problem is insurance coverage, he believes. Some physicians take advantage of recovering opiate addicts who need the medication to help them recover, overcharging them for o $ ce visits. “For instance, if somebody without insurance comes to Maryland from Pennsylvania or West Virginia, some docs will charge several hundred dollars just to see them.” Other challenges that limit the number of people who can access suboxone as a recovery tool are a shortage of physicians accredited to prescribe the medication, and an inadequate supply of the medication in some locales, Ball says. He’d like to see more resources being committed to provide treatment. “ ! ere have been several announcements about billions of (federal) dollars being poured into the problem, but not much of it has been reaching the local level. One problem is that if I prescribe suboxone for someone who is not from the D.C. area, their state’s (Medicaid) insurance may not cover them; so, they will have to pay cash to receive treatment.” “If I prescribe suboxone for someone who is not from the D.C. area, their state’s Medicaid may not cover them.” -Robert J. Ball

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