GIVE UP LINES ONLINE –
Oct. 18, 2023 – In Kentucky, 48% of those who started buprenorphine treatment via telehealth remained in treatment for 90 continuous days, compared to 44% of those who started treatment in non-telehealth settings. In Ohio, 32% of those who started buprenorphine treatment via telehealth remained in treatment for 90 continuous days, compared to 28% of those who started treatment in non-telehealth settings.
The research was conducted as part of the HEALing Communities Study, the largest addiction prevention and treatment implementation study ever conducted, which is supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and carried out in partnership with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) through the National Institutes of Health’s Helping to End Addiction Long-term Initiative, or NIH HEAL Initiative.
Prior to 2020, people with opioid use disorder were required to meet in-person with a health care provider to start treatment with buprenorphine. After the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States government implemented prescribing flexibilities to facilitate buprenorphine access for patients with opioid use disorder. These updated policies allowed clinicians to remotely prescribe buprenorphine to new patients via telehealth without conducting in-person examinations, expanded payment for telehealth services, and provided flexibility on accepted communication technologies to deliver clinical care for people with substance use disorders via telehealth.
