Buprenorphine prescription and treatment initiation through preemptive outreach and telehealth consultation with emergency medicine providers

Background: Persons with opioid use disorder (OUD) urgently need improved access to medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) and long-term treatment. Promising options include initiating buprenorphine in the emergency department (ED), telemedicine, and proactive treatment referrals before overdose events. Objective(s): We describe the process and outcomes of a novel referral path utilizing preemptive outreach and telemedicine to facilitate rapid access to MOUD and long-term treatment. Methods: Participants were referred to telemedicine appointments with ED providers for buprenorphine initiation and to treatment agencies via an electronic referral network. Administrative data tracked participation at each stage of the process. Independent samples t-tests and chi-square tests assessed differences in process completion based on demographics. Results: 163 persons with OUD or recent opioid overdose were referred, with high rates of participant follow-through, resulting in 126 new buprenorphine prescriptions and 114 linkages to long-term treatment. Of the 163 patients referred, 114 (69.9%) completed all steps. Participant demographics were not associated with significantly different completion rates. Conclusions: This model serves as a viable pathway to link people to treatment resources and MOUD, and novelly combines prospective client outreach with telemedicine to reach persons before they arrive in the ED following an overdose. Future studies should examine the impact of similar programs on subsequent opioid use rates and treatment retention.