Medications for Alcohol Use Disorders in a Primary Care Practice-Based Research Network Implementation Study

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism recommendations encourage clinicians to consider the use of alcohol medications (ARx), acamprosate, disulfiram, naltrexone, or topiramate, for patients with alcohol use disorders (AUD). These recommendations have not yet been implemented in U.S. primary care practices. This mixed-methods substudy reports overall ARx use and facilitators to ARx use observed during a group-randomized trial in 19 practices. Nine percent of patients with a documented AUD diagnosis (n = 149 patients) received an ARx prescription. Facilitators to ARx use were exposure to evidence, limited referral options, receptive patients, successful outcomes, low cost of oral naltrexone, and familiarity with topiramate. Findings may affect the development of future primary care implementation programs.