National Institute on Drug Abuse Clinical Trials Network Meeting Report: Advancing Emergency Department Initiation of Buprenorphine for Opioid Use Disorder

Overview

Journal Ann Emerg Med

Specialty Emergency Medicine

Date 2023 May 13

PMID 37178101

Authors

Ethan Cowan

Jeanmarie Perrone

Steven L Bernstein

Edouard Coupet Jr

David A Fiellin

Kathryn Hawk

Andrew Herring

Kristen Huntley

Ryan McCormack

Arjun Venkatesh

Gail DOnofrio

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Opioid use disorder and opioid overdose deaths are a major public health crisis, yet highly effective evidence-based treatments are available that reduce morbidity and mortality. One such treatment, buprenorphine, can be initiated in the emergency department (ED). Despite evidence of efficacy and effectiveness for ED-initiated buprenorphine, universal uptake remains elusive. On November 15 and 16, 2021, the National Institute on Drug Abuse Clinical Trials Network convened a meeting of partners, experts, and federal officers to identify research priorities and knowledge gaps for ED-initiated buprenorphine. Meeting participants identified research and knowledge gaps in 8 categories, including ED staff and peer-based interventions; out-of-hospital buprenorphine initiation; buprenorphine dosing and formulations; linkage to care; strategies for scaling ED-initiated buprenorphine; the effect of ancillary technology-based interventions; quality measures; and economic considerations. Additional research and implementation strategies are needed to enhance adoption into standard emergency care and improve patient outcomes.

Citing Articles

Emergency Clinician Buprenorphine Initiation, Subsequent Prescriptions, and Continuous Prescriptions.

Dekker A, Schriger D, Herring A, Samuels E JAMA. 2025; .

PMID: 39969893 PMC: 11840682. DOI: 10.1001/jama.2024.27976.

Facilitators of and barriers to buprenorphine initiation in the emergency department: a scoping review.

Bozinoff N, Grennell E, Soobiah C, Farhan Z, Rodak T, Bucago C Lancet Reg Health Am. 2024; 38:100899.

PMID: 39381082 PMC: 11459582. DOI: 10.1016/j.lana.2024.100899.

Peer support for patients with opioid use disorder in the emergency department: A narrative review.

Jack H, Arif S, Moore M, Bhatraju E, Thompson J, Stewart M J Am Coll Emerg Physicians Open. 2024; 5(4):e13253.

PMID: 39144727 PMC: 11322658. DOI: 10.1002/emp2.13253.

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