RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Barriers Rural Physicians Face Prescribing Buprenorphine for Opioid Use Disorder
JF The Annals of Family Medicine
JO Ann Fam Med
FD American Academy of Family Physicians
SP 359
OP 362
DO 10.1370/afm.2099
VO 15
IS 4
A1 C. Holly A. Andrilla
A1 Cynthia Coulthard
A1 Eric H. Larson
YR 2017
UL http://www.annfammed.org/content/15/4/359.abstract
AB Opioid use disorder is a serious public health problem. Management with buprenorphine is an effective, office-based, medication-assisted treatment, but 60.1% of rural counties in the United States lack a physician with a Drug Enforcement Agency waiver to prescribe buprenorphine. This national study surveyed all rural physicians who have received a waiver in the United States and found that those who were not actively prescribing buprenorphine reported significantly more barriers than those who were, regardless of whether they were treating the maximum number of patients their waiver allowed. These findings suggest the need for tailored strategies to address barriers to providing buprenorphine for opioid use disorder and to support physicians who are adding or maintaining this service.