The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) published its final rule on MOUD, which goes into effect on April 2 and has a compliance date of Oct. 2. The final rule updates regulations governing Opioid Treatment Programs (OTPs) and seeks to expand access to MOUD. One provision in the final rule makes permanent the COVID-19 era flexibilities that expand eligibility for patients to receive take-home doses of methadone. Another allows initiation of treatment via telehealth, including methadone via audio-visual telehealth technology and buprenorphine via audio-only technology. The rule also expands provider eligibility to allow nurse practitioners and physician assistants to order medications in OTPs, where state law allows; removes stringent admission criteria that had previously required patients to have a history of addiction for a full year before being eligible for treatment; and expands access to interim treatment, allowing patients to initiate medication treatment while awaiting further services.
SAMHSA has also released an updated version of its Overdose Prevention and Response Toolkit, designed to augment overdose prevention and reversal training, provide guidance on the role of opioid overdose reversal medications (including naloxone and nalmefene) and outline how to respond to an overdose. It also contains appendices for specific audiences, including people who use drugs, people who take prescription opioids, first responders, health care practitioners, and others.
