Literature Collection

BACKGROUND: With the onset of the COVID-19 crisis, many federal agencies relaxed policies regulating opioid use disorder treatment. The impact of these changes has been minimally documented. The abrupt nature of these shifts provides a naturalistic opportunity to examine adaptations for opioid use disorder treatment in primary care. OBJECTIVE: To examine change in medical and behavioral health appointment frequency, visit type, and management of patients with opioid use disorder in response to COVID-19. DESIGN: A 14-item survey queried primary care practices that were enrolled in a medications for opioid use disorder statewide expansion project. Survey content focused on changes in service delivery because of COVID-19. The survey was open for 18 days. PARTICIPANTS: We surveyed 338 clinicians from 57 primary care clinics located in California, including federally qualified health centers and look-alikes. A representative from all 57 clinics (100%) and 118 staff (34.8% of all staff clinicians) participated in the survey. MAIN MEASURES: The survey consisted of seven dimensions of practice: medical visits, behavioral health visits, medication management, urine drug screenings, workflow, perceived patient demand, and staff experience. KEY RESULTS: A total of 52 of 57 (91.2%) primary care clinics reported practice adaptations in response to COVID-19 regulatory changes. Many clinics indicated that both medical (40.4%) and behavioral health visits (53.8%) were now exclusively virtual. Two-thirds (65.4%) of clinics reported increased duration of buprenorphine prescriptions and reduced urine drug screenings (67.3%). The majority (56.1%) of clinics experienced an increase in patient demand for behavioral health services. Over half (56.2%) of clinics described having an easier or unchanged experience retaining patients in care. CONCLUSIONS: Many adaptations in the primary care approach to patients with opioid use disorder may be temporary reactions to COVID-19. Further evaluation of the impact of these adaptations on patient outcomes is needed to determine whether changes should be maintained post-COVID-19.

This information is meant to support providers of office based opioid treatment programs (OBOT) relating to the coronavirus (COVID-19) situation in Ohio.

BACKGROUND: Contingency management (CM) has recently shown efficacy in promoting abstinence and retention in treatment among crack cocaine users in Brazil. However, partially because of unawareness and resistance among health care providers, CM has not been widely employed. The objective of this study was to conduct a secondary analysis in order to evaluate how CM participants perceive their treatment experience. METHODS: Twenty-seven crack cocaine users, previously assigned to 12 weeks of CM treatment, were assessed with a structured questionnaire designed to assess their personal opinion of, difficulty in understanding, and acceptance of the CM intervention, as well as their opinion regarding its impact on their treatment responses. RESULTS: Descriptive analyses showed that 92.6% of the participants found it very easy to understand the CM protocol. All participants reported liking their CM experience quite a bit. For the perceived effects of CM on their treatment response, 81.5% of the participants stated that CM helped them considerably, the mean score for the impact of CM on treatment response (out of a maximum of 10) being 9 (SD = 1.5). When asked if they believed CM could help other people with crack cocaine dependence, 92.6% of the participants stated that CM could help such people a lot and 7.4% stated that it could help them a little. CONCLUSIONS: From the perspective of the patients, CM was easily assimilated, easily accepted, and had a direct positive effect on treatment response. These findings provide additional support for the incorporation of CM into substance abuse treatment services in Brazil.