Opioid addiction isn't taking a break during the coronavirus pandemic.
But the U.S. response to the viral crisis is making addiction treatment easier to get.
Under the national emergency declared by the Trump administration in March, the government has suspended a federal law that required patients to have an in-person visit with a physician before they could be prescribed drugs that help quell withdrawal symptoms, such as Suboxone. Patients can now get those prescriptions via a phone call or videoconference with a doctor.
Addiction experts have been calling for that change for years to help expand access for patients in many parts of the country that have shortages of physicians eligible to prescribe these medication-assisted treatments. A federal report in January found that 40% of U.S. counties don't have a single health care provider approved to prescribe buprenorphine, an active ingredient in Suboxone.
A 2018 law called for the new policy, but regulations were never finalized.
"I wish there was another way to get this done besides a pandemic," says Dr. David Kan, chief medical officer of Bright Heart Health, a Walnut Creek, Calif., company. It has recently started working with insurers and health providers to help addicted patients get therapy and medications without having to leave their homes. He said he hopes the administration will make the changes permanent after the national emergency ends.
Years before the emergency regulations were issued, Bright Heart — along with several other telemedicine counseling providers — began offering opioid addiction treatment and counseling via telemedicine, even if they couldn't prescribe initial medication for addiction. Patients can renew prescriptions for drugs to deal with withdrawal symptoms, get drug-tested and meet with counselors for therapy.
When Nathan Post needed help overcoming a decade-long drug addiction, he went online in 2018 and used Bright Heart Health to connect to a doctor and weekly individual and group counseling sessions. He says the convenience is a big benefit.
"As an addict, it was easy to have excuses not to do stuff, but this was easy because I could just be in my living room and turn on my computer, so I had no reason to blow it off," he says.
Post, 38, a tattoo artist who recently moved from New Mexico to Iowa City, Iowa, was addicted to Suboxone, the drug he was prescribed in 2009 to deal with an addiction to opioid pills.
Officials with the insurer Anthem say Bright Heart's telemedicine option has helped increase medication-assisted treatment for members with opioid drug abuse issues from 16% to more than 30% in California and nine other states. While fewer than 5% of Anthem patients seeking addiction treatment use telemedicine, the company expects the option to become more common.
One barometer of the effectiveness of the care, Bright Heart Health officials say, is that 90% of patients are still in treatment after 90 days and 65% after 90 days — far higher than with traditional treatment.
by Phil Galewitz, NPR | Read more:
But the U.S. response to the viral crisis is making addiction treatment easier to get.
Under the national emergency declared by the Trump administration in March, the government has suspended a federal law that required patients to have an in-person visit with a physician before they could be prescribed drugs that help quell withdrawal symptoms, such as Suboxone. Patients can now get those prescriptions via a phone call or videoconference with a doctor.
Addiction experts have been calling for that change for years to help expand access for patients in many parts of the country that have shortages of physicians eligible to prescribe these medication-assisted treatments. A federal report in January found that 40% of U.S. counties don't have a single health care provider approved to prescribe buprenorphine, an active ingredient in Suboxone.A 2018 law called for the new policy, but regulations were never finalized.
"I wish there was another way to get this done besides a pandemic," says Dr. David Kan, chief medical officer of Bright Heart Health, a Walnut Creek, Calif., company. It has recently started working with insurers and health providers to help addicted patients get therapy and medications without having to leave their homes. He said he hopes the administration will make the changes permanent after the national emergency ends.
Years before the emergency regulations were issued, Bright Heart — along with several other telemedicine counseling providers — began offering opioid addiction treatment and counseling via telemedicine, even if they couldn't prescribe initial medication for addiction. Patients can renew prescriptions for drugs to deal with withdrawal symptoms, get drug-tested and meet with counselors for therapy.
When Nathan Post needed help overcoming a decade-long drug addiction, he went online in 2018 and used Bright Heart Health to connect to a doctor and weekly individual and group counseling sessions. He says the convenience is a big benefit.
"As an addict, it was easy to have excuses not to do stuff, but this was easy because I could just be in my living room and turn on my computer, so I had no reason to blow it off," he says.
Post, 38, a tattoo artist who recently moved from New Mexico to Iowa City, Iowa, was addicted to Suboxone, the drug he was prescribed in 2009 to deal with an addiction to opioid pills.
Officials with the insurer Anthem say Bright Heart's telemedicine option has helped increase medication-assisted treatment for members with opioid drug abuse issues from 16% to more than 30% in California and nine other states. While fewer than 5% of Anthem patients seeking addiction treatment use telemedicine, the company expects the option to become more common.
One barometer of the effectiveness of the care, Bright Heart Health officials say, is that 90% of patients are still in treatment after 90 days and 65% after 90 days — far higher than with traditional treatment.
Image: Ian Hooton/Getty Images/Science Photo Library
[ed. See also: A high-risk perfect storm': loneliness and financial despair take toll on US mental health (The Guardian)]
[ed. See also: A high-risk perfect storm': loneliness and financial despair take toll on US mental health (The Guardian)]
