Low-threshold Access to Care: Initiating MOUD in the Emergency Department and Encouraging Treatment Retention

Join the Providers Clinical Support System – Medications for Opioid Use Disorders (PCSS-MOUD) and the National Council for Mental Wellbeing on June 12, 12-1 p.m. ET, as we learn from a leading emergency department (ED) and addiction medicine expert about the benefits of initiating MOUD in the ED, easier access to care and OUD treatment retention.

Over 2.5 million adults in the U.S. are diagnosed with OUD. In 2022, 12.7% of ED visits involved opioids. Yet only 25% of those who need treatment receive recommended MOUD. MOUDs are highly effective treatments that have been shown to decrease opioid use, cravings and transmission of infectious disease, and to increase retention in treatment. As the opioid epidemic continues to impact people across the U.S., the ED represents a critical access point to the health care system, supporting people with OUD by initiating MOUD, such as buprenorphine, and connecting them to low-threshold, easy-to-access care for continued treatment.

The California Bridge Program and the Bridge Center (Bridge) at the Public Health Institute (PHI) are excellent models for engaging both urban and rural EDs across the country to initiate MOUD. California Bridge has helped California implement the largest and fastest expansion of ED-initiated MOUD. To better serve patients, Bridge helps providers and community partners to create a integrated systems of care that unites emergency care and community health. PHI works to improve access to health clinics for low-income rural patients by advancing rural health infrastructure, developing new technologies and implementing best practices in rural health policy and programming. Together, these programs are helping health care organizations connect people with OUD to low-threshold care and MOUD in both urban and rural areas, by initiating MOUD in EDs and other low-barrier settings to increase treatment retention.

Educational objectives:

• Discuss the current landscape of OUD treatment, including MOUD, and the need for accessible, low-barrier care and treatment.
• Describe the benefits of initiating MOUD within ED settings and the impact on treatment retention.
• Explore examples of successfully implemented ED-based MOUD initiation programs.

Featured speaker: Arianna Campbell, DMSc, MPH, PA-C, Sr. Director and Principal Investigator, California Bridge Program and the Bridge Center at PHI

Funding for this initiative was made possible by Cooperative Agreement No. 1H79TI086770 from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The views expressed in written conference materials or publications and by speakers and moderators do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the Department of Health and Human Services, nor does mention of trade names, commercial practices or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. government.