Supply of buprenorphine waivered physicians: The influence of state policies

Abstract Buprenorphine, an effective opioid use disorder treatment, can be prescribed only by buprenorphine-waivered physicians. We calculated the number of buprenorphine-waivered physicians/100,000 county residents using 2008-11 Buprenorphine Waiver Notification System data, and used multivariate r...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of substance abuse treatment 2015-01, Vol.48 (1), p.104-111
Main Authors: Stein, Bradley D., M.D., Ph.D, Gordon, Adam J., M.D., M.P.H, Dick, Andrew W., Ph.D, Burns, Rachel M., M.P.H, Pacula, Rosalie Liccardo, Ph.D, Farmer, Carrie M., Ph.D, Leslie, Douglas L., Ph.D, Sorbero, Mark, M.S
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analgesics, Opioid - therapeutic use
Buprenorphine
Buprenorphine - therapeutic use
Death
Drug Prescriptions - statistics & numerical data
Drug use
Humans
Medicaid
Medicaid - statistics & numerical data
Medicaid program
Medication assisted treatment
Methadone
Methadone - therapeutic use
Opiate Substitution Treatment - statistics & numerical data
Opioid use disorder
Physicians
Physicians - legislation & jurisprudence
Physicians - statistics & numerical data
Psychiatry
Public Policy - legislation & jurisprudence
Regression analysis
State policy
Substance abuse treatment
United States
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Abstract Buprenorphine, an effective opioid use disorder treatment, can be prescribed only by buprenorphine-waivered physicians. We calculated the number of buprenorphine-waivered physicians/100,000 county residents using 2008-11 Buprenorphine Waiver Notification System data, and used multivariate regression models to predict number of buprenorphine-waivered physicians/100,000 residents in a county as a function of county characteristics, state policies and efforts to promote buprenorphine use. In 2011, 43% of US counties had no buprenorphine-waivered physicians and 7% had 20 or more waivered physicians. Medicaid funding, opioid overdose deaths, and specific state guidance for office-based buprenorphine use were associated with more buprenorphine-waivered physicians, while encouraging methadone programs to promote buprenorphine use had no impact. Our findings provide important empirical information to individuals seeking to identify effective approaches to increase the number of physicians able to prescribe buprenorphine.
ISSN:0740-5472
1873-6483
DOI:10.1016/j.jsat.2014.07.010