Lowering the barriers to medication treatment for people with opioid use disorder: evidence for a low-threshold approach

Lowering the barriers to medication treatment for people with opioid use disorder: evidence for a low-threshold approach

Collection:
Health Policy and Services Research
Series Title(s):
Issue brief (Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics)
Author(s):
Aronowitz, Shoshana V., author
Behrends, Czarina Navos, author
Lowenstein, Margaret, author
Schackman, Bruce, author
Weiner, Janet, author
Contributor(s):
Center for Health Economics of Treatment Interventions for Substance Use Disorder, HCV, and HIV, issuing body.
Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, issuing body.
Publication:
Philadelphia, PA : Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, January 2022
Language(s):
English
Format:
Text
Subject(s):
Opiate Substitution Treatment
Opioid-Related Disorders -- drug therapy
Health Services Accessibility
United States
Genre(s):
Technical Report
Abstract:
Overdose deaths have reached unprecedented levels in the U.S., despite effective medications to treat opioid use disorders (OUDs). Because the regulatory and administrative barriers to treatment are high, only about 11% of people with OUD receive effective medications, which include buprenorphine, methadone, and naltrexone. In response, clinicians and advocates have looked to a "low-threshold" approach that reduces the stigma surrounding effective medications and facilitates their use. This brief summarizes the barriers to treatment, the evidence on the low-threshold approach, and areas for future research. The evidence suggests that low-threshold approaches can increase access to treatment, with outcomes comparable to high-barrier, standard care. Policymakers, providers, and payers should lower the barriers to medication treatment through regulatory flexibility (including telehealth prescribing), and harm reduction strategies that de-emphasize abstinence and place a priority on initiating or re-initiating treatment whenever and wherever individuals are ready to do so.
Copyright:
Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY license. (More information)
Extent:
1 online resource (1 PDF file (6 pages)).
Illustrations:
Illustrations
NLM Unique ID:
9918335064006676 (See catalog record)
Permanent Link:
http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/9918335064006676