Community pharmacy-based injectable naltrexone service delivery models and best practices

Opioid use disorder (OUD) is a major public health issue in the United States. Medications for OUD (MOUD), which combines the use of approved medications with counseling and behavioral therapies, represents an evidence-based approach to treat individuals living with an OUD. However, MOUD has not kept up with increased demand and new treatment approaches are needed. One approach is injectable naltrexone, an approved and effective MOUD treatment, provided by pharmacists, who are more geographically accessible and have legal authority to administer it in some states.

To explore how different community pharmacists provide injectable naltrexone treatment and identify best practices.

An exploratory sequential mixed-methods design was used to investigate pharmacy-based naltrexone injection practices, involving a pharmacist questionnaire and interviews with pharmacists, prescribers, and community stakeholders. An inductive/iterative content analysis approach, guided by an initial straw model, was used to identify and explore conceptual categories for the interviews.

The final sample included 68 pharmacy surveys and 14 total interviews with pharmacists (n = 9), prescribers (n = 3), and community stakeholders (n = 2). Pharmacies providing naltrexone injections reported administering over 700 injections in the past year. Interviews revealed benefits and barriers to pharmacist-provided injections and the importance of the prescriber-pharmacist relationship in OUD treatment. Three pharmacy treatment delivery models were identified, compared to the initial straw model, and informed development of a best practices checklist for community pharmacies interested in establishing or expanding a naltrexone injection service.

The study demonstrates how community pharmacies developed and implemented a naltrexone injection service. Pharmacists' and prescribers' feedback clearly suggests an untapped interest, as well as resources, in realizing pharmacists' roles as providers of injectable naltrexone treatment. Implementation research could inform the development and evaluation of an intervention based on these best practices to further explore the utility of community pharmacy-based naltrexone injection services.