Impact of telemedicine on retention in Medications for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD) treatment with buprenorphine in the times of COVID-19 pandemic

The adverse impacts of opioid use disorder are well known and the pandemic exacerbated them. Over 70% of overdose deaths in 2019 were related to opioid use, with numbers growing throughout the pandemic. I was drawn to a study by Kaur, Mania, Tirupathi, & Polavarapu (2022) because it is published in the Journal of Rural Mental Health and examines telemedicine and successful treatment. Their study is: “Impact of telemedicine on retention in Medications for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD) treatment with buprenorphine in the times of COVID-19 pandemic: A retrospective chart review.” Here’s the abstract:

This study reviewed the impact of telemedicine on treatment retention in Medications for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD) with buprenorphine treatment program during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Electronic health records of active patients in MOUD with buprenorphine treatment program were reviewed from July 1, 2019, to June 30, 2020. Data were divided into four groups of 3-months’ time points to calculate and compare treatment retention in the baseline, pre-COVID, and in-COVID groups. The percentage of treatment retention with a 95% confidence interval was calculated using University of California San Franciso- Clinical and Translational Science Institute (UCSF-CTSI) sample size calculator tool. This study presents data suggesting that telemedicine is efficacious in retaining patients in MOUD. Telemedicine is an alternative to face-to-face treatment delivery for MOUD with buprenorphine treatment. It should be available to provide services after the pandemic as well. 

In my view, anything that can hold promise to repair the lives of those impacted by opioid addiction is well worth it.