Establishing a Telehealth Program in Primary Care for the Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder

Background. More than 130 Americans die from opioid overdose each day. To address the opioid epidemic, opioid treatment programs are in place to treat substance use disorder. These programs have seen an influx of patients and are not able to accommodate the number of patients. Primary care practices can help with the crisis by providing an office-based opioid treatment (OBOT) program. Objective. To describe the necessary steps and considerations to put in place for implementing a telehealth OBOT program. Establishing a telehealth program for patients controlled on medication-assisted treatment can improve access to care, improve patient compliance, and redirect the workflow of the family practice. Methodos. After a literature review of established OBOT programs, state and federal laws, Medicare and reimbursement policies, a telehealth opioid treatment program was designed for private primary care practice. Conclusions. Primary care practices can should implement an office based opioid treatment program via telehealth to improve workflow and accessibility to care. Implications for Nursing. To offer improved access to care for patients with opioid addiction and seamless workflow in the office-based setting, primary care practices should consider establishing their telehealth OBOT program based on the following recommendations.