DDAP Announces Agency’s First Ever Medical Director

The Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP) announced today that Dr. Michael Lynch, UPMC Health Plan Medical Director of SUD Services, has been named Medical Director of DDAP. DDAP’s announcement follows last Wednesday’s announcement by RCPA of the creation of the new position.

Dr. Lynch, who will continue his full-time role with commercial insurer UPMC Health Plan, is board-certified in emergency medicine, medical toxicology, and addiction medicine.

In this position, Dr. Lynch will advise and assist DDAP in the development of policy and procedures related to medical best practice as well as advances related to substance use disorder (SUD) treatment, including:

• Providing technical assistance to SUD treatment providers and physicians in PA’s system of care, including the application of the ASAM criteria;
• Developing projects to improve delivery of care to individuals with SUD;
• Researching and reviewing new technologies and procedures, reviewing pertinent medical literature, and presenting findings and recommendations to appropriate entities regarding SUD, opioid use disorder, and medication-assisted therapies;
• Educating stakeholders and providers relative to medication-assisted therapies as well as drug, alcohol, and narcotic treatment regulations; and
• Developing new workflows and processes to increase quality improvement measures for DDAP and treatment providers.

Dr. Lynch graduated from the University of Notre Dame and University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine before completing his residency in emergency medicine and fellowship in medical toxicology at the University of Pittsburgh. He is an assistant professor of Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh and works in the emergency departments at UPMC Presbyterian and Mercy Hospitals. The toxicology service at UPMC is one of the busiest in the country, seeing patients at five Pittsburgh hospitals as well as providing inpatient addiction and telemedicine treatment. Dr. Lynch is the Medical Director of the Pittsburgh Poison Center and of SUD Services at UPMC Health Plan, and he continues to serve on the Boards of Directors for the PA College of Emergency Physicians and the American Association of Poison Control Centers.

UPMC Health Plan is the commercial insurance arm of UPMC. Community Care Behavioral Health, UPMC’s behavioral health managed care organization, is a sister company and the largest behavioral health Medicaid payer in the commonwealth. Both UPMC and Community Care Behavioral Health are RCPA members.