Rural MOUD Telemedicine in Primary Care Phase 1

The dramatic increases in opioid overdose deaths across the nation, particularly in rural areas, call for a rapid expansion of access to medication treatment for opioid use disorder (MOUD).There is a need to study effective ways to expand treatment access and improve retention on MOUD in rural areas highly impacted by OUD. Telemedicine (TM) for MOUD offers an alternative or supplementary approach to delivering MOUD that may be suitable for rural clinics and patients with OUD.

The objectives of the feasibility study are to study ways of incorporating TM into primary care clinics and to evaluate the associated outcomes, based on EHRs from the clinics and the TM vendor (i.e., patient days on MOUD) and participant surveys (e.g., opioid use). Additional outcomes of the feasibility study are feasibility and acceptability assessed from the perspectives of providers and participants via focus groups. A patient registry will be established in each clinic to track patients with OUD diagnoses, and those in the registry will be provided the opportunity to consent for sharing identified EHRs and participating in the follow-up surveys.

Inclusion criteria

• Aged 18-80 years old, inclusive, at the time of the qualifying visit
• with OUD diagnosis
• At least 1 visit to the participating clinics from 9 months before and 6 months after the date of intervention implementation