Staff Attitudes toward Buprenorphine before and after Implementation of an Office-Based Opioid Treatment Program in an Urban Teaching Clinic

Purpose Improving access to buprenorphine treatment is necessary to address the national opioid use disorder (OUD) crisis. This study investigates attitudes about buprenorphine prescribing among staff at a primary care clinic and compares attitudes before and after implementation of an office-based opioid treatment (OBOT) program. Methods Providers and staff in an academic primary care clinic were surveyed prior to and one year following implementation of an OBOT program. Descriptive statistics, Pearson's Chi-2 tests and logistic regression models were used to compare staff and provider attitudes about use of buprenorphine for OUD and to compare attitudes before and after OBOT implementation. Results At baseline, 20% of staff indicated strong belief that buprenorphine is an effective treatment for OUD and 16% indicated strong belief that primary care providers should prescribe it. Staff appeared less likely than providers to believe strongly that buprenorphine is effective (OR 0.24, 95% CI= 0.08-.78, p = 0.02; aOR 0.28, 95% CI=.08-1.0, p = 0.05 adjusted for age, race and gender). Following implementation of an OBOT program, the percentage of staff who believed strongly in the effectiveness of buprenorphine for OUD increased from 20% to 40% (p = 0.31), and the percentage who believed that primary care providers (PCPs) should prescribe it increased from 16% to 30% (p = 0.52). Conclusions Staff in a primary care clinic were less likely than providers to believe in the effectiveness of buprenorphine treatment or that PCPs should prescribe it for OUD. That their beliefs substantially changed after implementation of an OBOT program suggests that direct experience impacts attitudes.