Abstract
Background: Opioid use disorder (OUD) is a critical concern among US veterans. The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) recommends buprenorphine as a first-line treatment for OUD; however, only 35% of veterans with an OUD currently receive medication treatment. Practical barriers, including the capacity of providers to prescribe, may affect delivery of buprenorphine. We examined the current state of buprenorphine treatment within the VHA. Methods: National VHA administrative databases were queried to identify all providers credentialed to prescribe buprenorphine as of January 2018. Data were extracted on providers’ prescribing capacity (30, 100, or 275 patients concurrently) and number of patients who received buprenorphine in the prior 180 days. Results: A total of 1458 VHA providers were credentialed to prescribe buprenorphine. Forty-three percent of providers had not prescribed buprenorphine to any VHA patients in the past 180 days. Of those that prescribed to at least 1 patient, providers still prescribed to fewer patients than their capacity, regardless of their patient panel size (30, 100, or 275), prescribing to 18.5 patients on average. Conclusions: VHA providers are prescribing buprenorphine below their capacity. A multipronged approach to increase the number of credentialed providers and address barriers to prescribing is needed to ensure that veterans get effective treatment for OUD.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 286-288 |
| Number of pages | 3 |
| Journal | Substance Abuse |
| Volume | 39 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jul 3 2018 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This material is based upon work supported by the Veterans Health Administration’s Health Services Research & Development Grant no. IIR 16-145. This material is the result of work supported with resources and the use of facilities at the Minneapolis VA Healthcare System and the Salt Lake City VA Health Care System. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the Department of Veterans Affairs or the United States government.
Funding Information:
This material is based upon work supported by the Veterans Health Administration?s Health Services Research & Development Grant no. IIR 16-145. This material is the result of work supported with resources and the use of facilities at the Minneapolis VA Healthcare System and the Salt Lake City VA Health Care System. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the Department of Veterans Affairs or the United States government.
Publisher Copyright:
©, This work was authored as part of the Contributor’s official duties as an Employee of the United States Government and is therefore a work of the United States Government. In accordance with 17 USC. 105, no copyright protection is available for such works under US Law.
Keywords
- Buprenorphine
- opioid use disorder
- veterans
PubMed: MeSH publication types
- Journal Article
- Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
