From policy to practice: Pilot program increases access to medication for opioid use disorder in rural Colorado

Medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) is an important approach to address the opioid crisis, but rural areas have limited access to MOUD. In 2016, Nurse Practitioners (NPs) and Physician Assistants (PAs) became eligible to prescribe buprenorphine. Local and state stakeholders in Colorado, including clinicians, policymakers, law enforcement, and patient advocates, formed a collaborative to develop legislative policy and programs for the opioid epidemic. A pilot MOUD program was developed in 2017 to increase the number of NPs and PAs providing MOUD and to increase access to MOUD in 2 counties with high opioid overdose rates.

Source: Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment - May 6, 2020 Category: Addiction Authors: Tanya R. Sorrell, Mary Weber, Andrea Alvarez, Nancy Beste, Ursula Hollins, Claudia R. Amura, Paul F. Cook Source Type: research