New rule helps finalize move to provide more medication-assisted treatment to people with opioid disorders
Tuesday, September 27, 2016
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), as part of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), has issued new reporting requirements for physicians who will be authorized to prescribe the opioid use disorder treatment medication buprenorphine at the new limit of 275 patients. The requirements, published on September 27, 2016 in the Federal Register, are a key step in increasing access to medication-assisted treatment for opioid-related disorders.
On July 8, 2016, SAMHSA/HHS published a final rule, “Medication Assisted Treatment for Opioid Use Disorders,” which allows practitioners who have had a waiver to prescribe buprenorphine for up to 100 patients for a year or more, to now obtain a waiver to treat up to 275 patients. Practitioners are eligible to obtain the waiver if they have additional credentialing in addiction medicine or addiction psychiatry from a specialty medical board and/or professional society, or practice in a qualified setting as described in the rule. As of this week, 1,665 practitioners have applied for and been granted waivers to prescribe at the increased limit. This rule was accompanied by a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking, which solicited public comment on proposed reporting requirements for practitioners who increase their patient limit to 275. More information about the NPRM can be found here.
Under the new rule, physicians prescribing buprenorphine at the maximum patient cap of 275 will be required to complete a SAMHSA reporting form each year. This reporting will help SAMHSA ensure that physicians prescribing at the new higher levels are in compliance with safe and appropriate prescribing practices. Practitioners will be required to report the annual caseload of patients by month, the number of patients provided behavioral health services and referred to behavioral health services, and features of the practitioner’s diversion control plan.
The rule announced today is 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 medication-assisted treatment (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. That is why the President has called on Congress to fund his $1.1 billion proposal to expand access to treatment in communities across the country.
For more information about medication–assisted treatment, including buprenorphine, please visit:
For more information about SAMHSA please visit: http://www.samhsa.gov
For more information, contact the SAMHSA Press Office at 240-276-2130.
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