New mobile app will provide instant, vital information on medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder

Friday, October 7, 2016

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) today announced the upcoming launch of MATx, a free mobile app that will provide health care practitioners with immediate access to vital information about medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for opioid use disorder.

“There’s nothing like MATx in the field today,” said SAMHSA Principal Deputy Administrator, Kana Enomoto. “It will be a significant step forward in improving timely access to medication–assisted treatment by enabling physicians and other health care practitioners to better provide effective, evidence-based, and in some cases, life-saving treatment to people with opioid use disorders.”

Key features of the MATx app include:

Information on medications approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use in the treatment of opioid use disorders and treatment approaches for practitioners.
A buprenorphine prescribing guide, which includes information on the Drug Addiction Treatment Act of 2000 (DATA 2000) waiver process and patient limits
Clinical support tools such as treatment guidelines, ICD-10 coding, continuing education opportunities, and recommendations for working with special populations
Access to critical helplines and SAMHSA’s treatment locators.

SAMHSA will officially launch its MATx app on October 21, 2016. More information about the free app and how to download it to a mobile device is available at http://store.samhsa.gov/apps/MAT.

SAMHSA developed MATx as part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Opioid Initiative, which was launched in March 2015 and is focused on improving opioid prescribing practices; expanding access to MAT for opioid use disorder; and increasing the use of naloxone to reverse opioid overdoses.

The initiative concentrates on evidence-based strategies that can have the most significant impact on the crisis. But additional funding is necessary to ensure that every American who wants to get treatment for opioid use disorder will have access. Under the President’s FY 2017 Budget proposal, states would be eligible for up to $920 million over two years to expand access to treatment. At this time, Congress has not fully funded the budget proposal. See here for a state by state breakdown of the President’s budget and, if fully funded, the impact it would have on states’ ability to further expand access to treatment.

For more information, contact the SAMHSA Press Office at 240-276-2130.