Medical Economics February 2, 2024
Rule update will especially benefit rural and low-income patients
Doctors soon will find it easier to use telehealth to prescribe medications for helping patients with opioid addiction.
The expanded use of telehealth for combatting opioid addiction is part of a recent update to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) regulations governing opioid treatment programs (OTPs) to expand access to methadone, buprenorphine and other medications used to treat opioid addiction. The update, the first in 20 years, is contained in a recent rule issued by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), which is part of HHS.
“This final rule represents a historic modernization of OTP regulations to help connect more Americans with effective treatment for opioid...