Opioid Treatment Programs Can Continue to Virtually Prescribe some SUD Medications Post-PHE

Opioid treatment programs (OTP) can continue to virtually prescribe buprenorphine to new and existing patients after the public health emergency ends.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) announced June 28 that OTPs can continue prescribing through telemedicine without requiring patients to come in for an in-person medical visit for up to a year. 

The new virtual prescribing flexibility excludes methadone; the in-person medical evaluation remains in effect for that medication, according to an announcement from SAMHSA. 

In April 2020, SAMHSA exempted OTPs from the requirement to perform an in-person medical evaluation if telehealth provides adequate supervision. The exemption came in response to the federal PHE for the coronavirus.

The PHE, which has been extended several times, is set to expire on July 11 but is all but certain to be extended to end on or around Oct. 9. The federal government will say if it intends to allow the PHE to expire 60 days before the end date. That is around Aug. 10.

“In the more than two years since this exemption was granted, states, OTPs, and other stakeholders report that this flexibility has resulted in improved patient satisfaction with care, and increased patient engagement,” the announcement states, adding that feedback from stakeholders that virtually prescribe buprenorphine has been “overwhelmingly positive.”

This announcement represents a movement on how the regulatory world of telehealth in addiction treatment will look in the future.

COVID-era regulatory flexibilities for telehealth and other elements of virtual care such as virtual prescribing enabled a boom in telehealth utilization. Behavioral health saw some of the highest rates of utilization among other segments in health care from the height of the pandemic until now. 

Flexibilities allowing providers to virtually prescribe medication for OUD has been a boon to traditional, facility-based addiction treatment providers and digital health companies alike for medication-assisted treatment (MAT). Startups especially succeed in raising venture capital. Recent examples include Boulder Care and Bicycle Health.