Common elements in opioid use disorder guidelines for buprenorphine prescribing

Area of Science:

• Addiction Medicine
• Health Services Research
• Pharmacology

Background:

• Opioid use disorder (OUD) is a significant public health crisis.
• Buprenorphine is an effective medication for OUD treatment.
• Office-based opioid treatment (OBOT) offers a scalable approach to OUD care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To consolidate best practice guidelines for OBOT using buprenorphine.
• To explore linking evidence-based guidelines with claims data for outcome analysis.
• To identify how analytic techniques can drive cost-effective OUD treatment.

Main Methods:

• Conducted a literature review of US and international OBOT guidelines (2009-2018).
• Consolidated guidelines based on common clinical themes and phases of care.
• Described the process of correlating guideline elements with commercial and Medicaid claims data.

Main Results:

• Seven guidelines met inclusion criteria, presented in tables by clinical themes.
• Highlighted areas of agreement and divergence among guidelines.
• Identified guideline components relevant to public and private payer metrics.

Conclusions:

• Common themes in US and international guidelines indicate consensus on OUD interventions.
• Linking claims data to best practices enables payers to track patients and monitor outcomes.
• This approach facilitates high-quality, cost-effective OUD treatment.