In Person vs Telehealth Opioid Use Disorder Treatment After Patients Leave the Emergency Department
University of California, Davis
Summary
Main study objective: compare long-term buprenorphine treatment outcomes for patients who start buprenorphine for opioid use disorder (OUD) in the emergency department and are then referred to get outpatient buprenorphine treatment either via telehealth or at an in-person clinic. Researchers will: Compare rates of establishing outpatient OUD treatment, how long patients stay on buprenorphine, and patients' experience with care to determine whether patient experiences and outcomes are better for patients referred to telehealth treatment versus patients patients referred to in-person treatment after they leave the emergency department. Participants will: Be recruited from 3 different hospital emergency departments. Answer questionnaires at baseline and then 1, 3, 6, and 9 months after their initial emergency department visit.
Description
Buprenorphine is a lifesaving but underused medication for treating opioid use disorder (OUD). Providing buprenorphine for OUD in hospital emergency departments is an evidence-based practice that reduces patients' risk of overdose. Most people with OUD need to stay on buprenorphine for years, yet median buprenorphine adherence is typically less than six months. There is thus a clear need for strategies to increase long term buprenorphine retention, particularly among patients prescribed buprenorphine in emergency departments, who often face barriers when transitioning to outpatient OUD treatme…
Eligibility
- Age range
- 18+ years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- No
Inclusion Criteria: * Adult patients who present to the emergency department and receive buprenorphine (either administered or prescribed) to treat OUD * do not have an established outpatient clinic where they will get buprenorphine when they leave the emergency department Exclusion Criteria: * inability to give consent * patients living in institutions (e.g., nursing homes, prisons) * unable to complete questionnaires in either English or Spanish
Interventions
- Otherreferral to telehealth treatment
the intervention tested will be referral to get outpatient treatment via telehealth. Participants in the telehealth arm will receive the intervention.
- Otherreferral to in person treatment
participants in the in person arm will be referred to in person OUD treatment after they leave the ED
Locations (3)
- El Centro Regional Medical Center Emergency DepartmentEl Centro, California
- University of California Davis Emergency DepartmentSacramento, California
- Olive View - UCLA Medical Center Emegency DepartmentSylmar, California