The emergency department is a critical missed opportunity to engage patients with opioid use disorder in medication-assisted treatment, the most effective current treatment for the disorder. Patients presenting at the emergency department with opioid use disorder will be given the opportunity to immediately start medication assisted treatment with Naloxone/Buprenorphine then referred either to a specialized addiction bridge clinic or a local waivered provider for further treatment. Differences in outcomes related to whether the patient is referred to a bridge clinic or local provider will be assessed.
The purpose of this study is 1) to evaluate whether emergency department-initiated medically assisted treatment with Buprenorphine/Naloxone in patients presenting with opioid use disorder will produce positive outcomes at 1 week, 3 months and 6 months after treatment initiation, and 2) to determine whether emergency department referrals to a bridge clinic improve outcomes relative to direct referrals to a local waivered physician.