Implementing a low-threshold audio-only telehealth model for medication-assisted treatment of opioid use disorder at a community-based non-profit organization in Washington, D.C.

• Main Authors: Ellis Jaewon Yeo (Author), Hannah Kralles (Author), David Sternberg (Author), Dana McCullough (Author), Ajetha Nadanasabesan (Author), Richard Mayo (Author), Hana Akselrod (Author), Jillian Catalanotti (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: BMC, 2021-12-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.

Summary

Abstract Background The COVID-19 pandemic has had especially devastating effects on people who use drugs. Due to pandemic protocols in the USA, medication-assisted treatment (MAT) regulations became more flexible, permitting our community-based nonprofit organization to transition its low-threshold MAT clinic to an audio-only telehealth model of care in 2020. Lessons learned have the potential to improve MAT delivery to people with OUD. Case presentation This case study describes our transition from a low-threshold community-based in-person MAT clinic to an audio-only telehealth model. We extracted data from electronic health records to describe patient characteristics and to calculate treatment retention rates. Patients were predominantly male (74.4%) and black (90.6%). The mean age was 53 years old with more than half of the clients aged 55 or older. Less than half (42.3%) of the patients lived in stable housing. Patients commonly had self-reported comorbid conditions such as hypertension (35.4%), hepatitis C (23.5%), diabetes (11.9%), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (7.2%). A majority of patients (68.6%) reported engagement with behavioral health care. We measure the success of our intervention relative to published retention rates, both overall as well as for in-person and telehealth care. In-person retention rates at 90- and 180-days were substantially higher than telehealth retention rates (93.9% vs 68.4% and 91.5% vs 51.9%, respectively). Conclusions Low-threshold medication-assisted treatment in the care of people with opioid use disorder is essential to increasing treatment access and continuity. We found that an audio-only telehealth model was viable. Although we had decreased retention rates following the transition to an audio-only telehealth model, our rates remained excellent compared to published values for in-person MAT care. We call for advocacy and regulations to support continued use of telehealth services throughout and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.

Item Description

10.1186/s12954-021-00578-1
1477-7517