Trends in Opioid Use Disorder Outpatient Treatment and Telehealth Utilization Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The authors examined trends in opioid use disorder treatment and in-person and telehealth modalities before and after COVID-19 pandemic onset among patients who had received treatment prepandemic.

The sample included 13,113 adults with commercial insurance or Medicare Advantage and receiving opioid use disorder treatment between March 2018 and February 2019. Trends in opioid use disorder outpatient treatment, treatment with medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), and in-person and telehealth modalities were examined 1 year before pandemic onset and 2 years after (March 2019-February 2022).

From March 2019 to February 2022, the proportion of patients with opioid use disorder outpatient and MOUD visits declined by 2.8 and 0.3 percentage points, respectively. Prepandemic, 98.6% of outpatient visits were in person; after pandemic onset, at least 34.9% of patients received outpatient care via telehealth.

Disruptions in opioid use disorder outpatient and MOUD treatments were marginal during the pandemic, possibly because of increased telehealth utilization.