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Thoughtful planning is key to successfully integrating medications for OUD into your practice. See below for guidance on how to prepare your team, provide training, navigate financing, manage operations, and understand policies and regulations.
Pre-Implementation Planning
Explore the preparation process for offering medications for OUD. Learn how to build a planning team, identify internal champions, and create a timeline and task list to support successful integration of medications for OUD into clinical workflows.
Identify Planning Team
Successful MOUD implementation begins by selecting compassionate and motivated staff or champions to form a diverse planning team that ensures protocols are feasible and supported throughout the organization.
Develop Implementation Plan
The planning team will create a tailored implementation plan that considers local opioid-related needs, defines care team roles, outlines community partnerships, assesses necessary resources, and establishes communication, sustainability, and evaluation strategies.
Training Providers And Staff
Learn how to prepare all clinic staff to support MOUD delivery in an accepting, stigma-free environment, from front desk personnel to providers. Ensure providers are equipped with the knowledge and confidence to deliver medications for OUD and engage patients in this treatment.
Determining the Appropriate Level of Care
Understand how to match the intensity of MOUD services to patient needs, recognizing when to manage care in primary settings versus referring to higher levels of support.
Fentanyl and Polysubstance Use
During training, address the complexities of treating patients using fentanyl and other substances, including adapting induction protocols and managing increased risks during stabilization.
Training Staff on Patient Interaction
Focus staff training on reducing stigma, understanding addiction as a treatable condition, and equipping them to interact with patients respectfully and compassionately.
Financing MOUD
Learn how to navigate the financial aspects of delivering MOUD, including reimbursement strategies and sustainability planning and view practical advice for assessing your financial landscape, understanding payer policies, and adapting to evolving funding requirements.
Working with Patients and Payers
Stay informed about payer-specific MOUD policies and collaborate with patients to navigate coverage, coding, and access challenges, especially in Medicaid and Medicare systems.
Same-Day Billing Restrictions
Providers must be aware of state and payer rules that may limit billing for multiple services on the same day, which can affect care delivery and reimbursement strategies.
Financial Sustainability
Achieving financial sustainability requires assessing your practice’s payer mix, patient population, and available funding models, and may benefit from consultation with practice facilitators or professional associations.
General Operations
Explore the operational and regulatory foundations of MOUD delivery in primary care and get tips for integrating treatment into existing workflows, maintaining compliance with state and federal laws, and ensuring smooth day-to-day functioning of your program.
Telehealth
Telehealth expands access to MOUD by offering flexible, effective treatment options—especially in underserved areas—while requiring attention to privacy, reimbursement, and regulatory compliance.
Toxicology Testing
Toxicology testing can be used to support clinical decision-making and patient safety, not as a punitive measure, with clear protocols that respect patient dignity and promote engagement.
Privacy, Confidentiality, and Information Sharing
Balance privacy regulations like HIPAA and 42 CFR Part 2 with care coordination needs by using appropriate consent processes and secure information-sharing protocols.