Rural patients face long drives to opioid treatment facilities

A new survey of drive times to federally approved opioid treatment centers offering methadone finds that the average trip takes almost 40 minutes. Researchers looked at nearly 500 counties in five U.S. states disproportionately affected by the opioid crisis: The drive time among urban areas could be as short as eight minutes, but nearly 50 minutes in rural areas. In contrast, average drive times to dialysis centers and primary care centers were only about 15 minutes. Patients who need dialysis need the procedure three times a week, whereas those getting methadone treatment need to drive to a health center six times a week, and the authors advocate for approving primary care centers to offer methadone to increase treatment access.