ArticleJournal of substance abuse treatment2021
Clinician perspectives on methadone service delivery and the use of telemedicine during the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative study.
Article in Journal of substance abuse treatment, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 56 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The trial behind it
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Who cites it
56 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 82 citations in OpenAlex.
- Physician Reluctance to Intervene in Addiction: A Systematic Review.JAMA network open · 2024Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Examining why therapists add sessions to the written exposure therapy protocol and whether it improves treatment outcome: A mixed-methods analysis.Psychological services · 2026Trial
- Envisioning a Humane and Accessible US Methadone Treatment System: Generating Policy and Practice Recommendations From the Liberate Methadone Movement.Substance use & addiction journal · 2026Article
- Narrative Review of Opioid Use Disorder Treatment Changes During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Their Impact on American Indian/Alaska Native Communities.Nursing open · 2026Review
- Developing and validating measures of take-home methadone with administrative data.Journal of substance use and addiction treatment · 2026Article
- Impacts of Disruptive Events on Addictive Behavioral Patterns: A Cross-Sectional Study of Methadone Maintenance Therapy During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Iran.Health science reports · 2025Article
- Impact of COVID-19 lockdown on methadone and buprenorphine prescriptions in England primary cares: an interrupted time series analysis.Harm reduction journal · 2025Article
- The Digital Divide and Tele-MOUD: A Qualitative Study of Opioid Community Coalition Perspectives During COVID-19.Telemedicine journal and e-health : the official journal of the American Telemedicine Association · 2025Article
- Barriers to and Facilitators of Implementing Overnight Nursing Teleconsultation in Small, Rural Long-Term Care Facilities: Qualitative Interview Study.JMIR aging · 2025Article
- Article
- Payment and billing strategies to support methadone take-home medication: Perspectives of financial leaders of opioid treatment program organizations in New York State.Journal of substance use and addiction treatment · 2025Article
- U.S. Healthcare Workers' Perspective of Outpatient Provision of Methadone: A Scoping Review.Substance use & addiction journal · 2024Article
- Telehealth Utilization for Opioid Use Disorder: A Nationwide Analysis Before and After the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency Declaration.Telemedicine journal and e-health : the official journal of the American Telemedicine Association · 2024Article
- State guidance and system changes related to COVID-19: Impact on opioid treatment programs.Journal of substance use and addiction treatment · 2024Article
- Stakeholder perspectives on a telemedicine referral and coordination model to expand medication treatment for opioid use disorder in rural primary care clinics.Journal of substance use and addiction treatment · 2024Article
- What can we learn from COVID-19 to improve opioid treatment? Expert providers respond.Journal of substance use and addiction treatment · 2023Article
- How are state telehealth policies associated with services offered by substance use disorder treatment facilities? Evidence from 2019 to 2022.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2023Article
- Flexible delivery of opioid agonist treatment during COVID-19 in Norway: qualitative and quantitative findings from an online survey of provider experiences.BMC health services research · 2023Article
- Changes to methadone maintenance therapy in the United States, Canada, and Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic: A narrative review.Journal of substance use and addiction treatment · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, opioid treatment programs (OTPs) in the U.S. were granted new flexibility in methadone dispensing and the use of telemedicine. To explore the impact of the pandemic and accompanying policy changes on service delivery, we asked OTP clinicians about changes in care patterns and perceptions of impacts on access and quality.
methodsIn May-June 2020, we completed semistructured telephone interviews with 20 OTP clinicians (physicians, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners) from 13 U.S. states. The study recruited participants through Medscape, an online platform where clinicians access clinical content. We used rapid thematic analysis, a qualitative approach, to summarize participants' expressed views related to the research objectives.
resultsClinicians identified a range of changes to methadone and ancillary service delivery as a result of COVID-19. Most clinicians reported that OTPs were prescribing more take-home doses of methadone and providing psychosocial services and medication management via telemedicine. Many also reported reducing the frequency of urine toxicology screening and accepting fewer new patients. While some clinicians expressed support for the increased flexibility around dosing and use of telemedicine, others expressed concern about increased risk of medication diversion and overdose. Clinicians reported several advantages and disadvantages of the changes due to the pandemic and that continued reimbursement would be required to maintain telemedicine services.
conclusionsThe COVID-19 pandemic dramatically altered the delivery of methadone treatment in the U.S. This study's findings suggest that OTPs may have reduced their methadone treatment during the early months of the pandemic and that the flexibilities that policy changes offered may not have resulted in changes in care delivery for all patients. Careful consideration and additional analysis should inform which changes OTPs should maintain long-term.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.