Examining the use of telehealth to initiate buprenorphine for opioid use disorder treatmen

Examining the use of telehealth to initiate buprenorphine for opioid use disorder treatment, in Health Affairs Scholar

key takeaway: "Our findings highlight increases in the use of telehealth for buprenorphine initiation beginning in 2020. Building on prior work showing a pandemic-era increase in tele-initiation of MOUD for Medicaid beneficiaries,1 our results demonstrate consistent increases in tele-initiation across insured groups. Primary care physicians prescribe most buprenorphine in the United States7 but were less likely to initiate buprenorphine via telehealth compared with behavioral health physicians."