New Research Finds Telehealth to be a Safe and Effective Option For Those Undergoing Addiction Treatment in the Fentanyl Era

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Jun 08, 2023, 10:00 ET

Data encompassing 200+ patients initiating treatment with telehealth services shows that over 90% returned for their second appointment and over 80% engaged in treatment based on CMS healthcare effectiveness guidelines

Data suggest that patients using fentanyl can be successfully induced with buprenorphine when coupled with a proactive patient support team working in parallel with clinicians

Results from this study were presented at the annual ASAM conference and represent the largest dataset to-date on telehealth-guided home inductions

NEW YORK, June 8, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Ophelia Health, an Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) care provider, today shared findings from its poster presentation at the Annual ASAM Conference, which included data from 208 consecutive patients across New York, Pennsylvania and Connecticut who initiated treatment with buprenorphine/naloxone through a telehealth treatment platform. This study represents the largest known case series of its kind on the safety and feasibility of telehealth-guided home inductions.

Using chart reviews from December 2021 to November 2022, the research revealed that home-based buprenorphine inductions guided by telehealth are both feasible and well tolerated. Over 90% of patients returned for one or more follow-up sessions and over 80% met HEDIS engagement criteria, including attending two or more visits within 34 days of intake.

Remarkably, the data also suggest that patients using fentanyl can be successfully induced with buprenorphine using a protocol that emphasizes: low initial buprenorphine dose, rapid titration to a target dose, proactively used comfort medications, and close follow-up during buprenorphine dose titration. It was found that induction-related adverse events, predominantly seen in the fentanyl subgroup, were of mild-moderate severity and not associated with short-term treatment dropout.

"Providing as many medical intervention options as possible for those struggling with OUD only assists in eliminating barriers to life-saving treatment," said Dr. Arthur Robin Williams, Chief Medical Officer, Ophelia.

"These new findings are extremely helpful to the addiction care space as up until now, there has been relatively little information in the medical literature on the safety and feasibility of telehealth-guided home inductions for fentanyl-using individuals. This research proves the long-term benefits of telehealth-guided home inductions are just as feasible and as safe as office-based inductions."

Engaging in evidence-based, medication-assisted treatment (MAT) is highly effective for those struggling with OUD. MAT decreases withdrawal symptoms and cravings and has been proven to reduce overdoses by 76 percent. It also reduces the total cost of caring for OUD patients by $10,000 per year . In short, MAT helps patients achieve better outcomes, maintaining its position as the gold standard of care for OUD patients, according to the CDC. Despite its proven effectiveness, only one in four people with OUD receive MAT treatment. The research findings referenced above are particularly important because telehealth-guided inductions may be a scalable way of bringing the advantages of MAT into people's homes.

"With many struggling with OUD going without treatment, it gives me hope that more evidence has come out in support of telehealth-backed treatment," said Ophelia CEO and Founder, Zack Gray. "Not only does this reinforce the benefits of our current treatment avenues, but it helps move the needle toward wider access to quality care for those who need it."

Researchers are currently working to publish the aforementioned findings in a peer-reviewed journal.

About Ophelia
Ophelia is a digital provider of medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for opioid use disorder (OUD), committed to making evidence-based treatment universally accessible. Its mission is to remove barriers for the 80% of Americans with OUD who are unable to access care and the 50,000+ MAT-licensed clinicians who are unable to treat patients due to a lack of infrastructure, training, and support. At its core is the Ophelia Care Model, a team-based clinical model and software platform developed by leading experts in addiction medicine and psychiatry. Ophelia is licensed to provide care in 36 states and contracted with Medicaid, Medicare, and Commercial insurers covering 85 million American lives.

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SOURCE Ophelia