ArticleJournal of addiction medicine
Shifting Medication Treatment Practices in the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Statewide Survey of Pennsylvania Opioid Treatment Programs.
Article in Journal of addiction medicine. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 25 citations in OpenAlex.
- Patient and provider experiences with opioid use disorder care delivered via telehealth: A systematic mixed-studies review.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2025Pooled it
- Impact of COVID-19-related methadone regulatory flexibilities: views of state opioid treatment authorities and program staff.Addiction science & clinical practice · 2023Trial
- Medicaid payment policies for methadone maintenance treatment for opioid use disorder, 2020-2025.Health affairs scholar · 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
- Recruiting opioid treatment program administrators for a national survey: Outcomes and lessons learned.The International journal on drug policy · 2025Article
- Drug treatment and support service utilization amidst the COVID-19 pandemic among people who inject drugs in Baltimore, Maryland: An interrupted time-series analysis, 2015-2022.The International journal on drug policy · 2025Article
- 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
- Trends in self-reported non-fatal overdose and patterns of substance use before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in a prospective cohort of adults who have injected drugs - Baltimore, Maryland, 2014-2022.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
- Transitioning off methadone: A qualitative study exploring why patients discontinue methadone treatment for opioid use disorder.Journal of substance use and addiction treatment · 2023Article
- Racial, Ethnic, and Sex Differences in Methadone-Involved Overdose Deaths Before and After the US Federal Policy Change Expanding Take-home Methadone Doses.JAMA health forum · 2023Article
- Synthesising evidence of the effects of COVID-19 regulatory changes on methadone treatment for opioid use disorder: implications for policy.The Lancet. Public health · 2023Review
- The development and validation of the pandemic medication-assisted treatment questionnaire for the assessment of pandemic crises impact on medication management and administration for patients with opioid use disorders.Nordisk alkohol- & narkotikatidskrift : NAT · 2023Article
- Opioid treatment program safety measures during the COVID-19 pandemic: a statewide survey.BMC health services research · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesWe sought to understand how opioid treatment programs (OTPs) adapted OTP operations to the COVID-19 pandemic and new federal regulations around methadone and buprenorphine.
methodsIn fall 2020, we conducted an online survey of all 103 OTPs licensed by the Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs, including clinical directors. Survey domains included changes to methadone take-home and telehealth practices; overdose and diversion prevention tactics; perceptions regarding how such changes influence patient well-being; and financial/operational concerns related to the new policies and practices. We calculated descriptive statistics and conducted Chi-square test to test for differences between not-for-profit versus for-profit and large versus small OTPs.
resultsForty-seven percent (46%) OTPs responded to the survey. 10% and 25%, respectively, endorsed offering telephone and video-based telemedicine buprenorphine induction. Sixty-six percent endorsed extending take-home supplies of methadone, but most indicated that these extensions applied to a minority of their patients. Most respondents agreed that provision of buprenorphine via telehealth and extended take-home methadone reduced patient burden in accessing medications and prevented exposure to COVID-19, while not significantly increasing risk of overdose. We did not find major differences in COVID-19 practice modifications by nonprofit status or size of OTP.
conclusionsIn Pennsylvania, the COVID-19 pandemic led to rapid changes in provision of opioid treatment services. Findings on relatively low uptake of longer methadone take-home regimens and virtual buprenorphine initiation despite general support for these practices imply a need to further develop guidelines for best clinical practices and understand/address barriers to their implementation.
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Registered trials
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