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The U.S. is within the midst of an opioid epidemic; overdose deaths from artificial opioids similar to fentanyl have elevated greater than 100-fold since 1999. Drugs like buprenorphine, methadone and naltrexone can all assist deal with opioid use dysfunction (OUD), curbing relapse, overdoses and dying. However many limitations exist to individuals with OUD getting these drugs, from suppliers not receiving satisfactory coaching to individuals with OUD feeling too stigmatized to discover a specialist.
“All these little things can be major barriers when you’re in the throes of withdrawal or addiction,” explains psychologist Erin Kelly, Ph.D..
Together with a workforce led by Dr. Kelly, Gregory Jaffe, MD, began a substance use problems clinic embedded inside the Jefferson household drugs clinic and residency program aiming to interrupt a few of these limitations and develop entry to life-saving remedy inside main care.
They revealed their findings in Substance Use & Misuse.
“The goal of this was to help create low-barrier access to these medications,” Dr. Kelly says. Main care suppliers (PCPs) are sometimes the primary level of contact for a affected person within the medical system, making them a key route for prescribing OUD drugs.
Initially, PCPs within the observe had been skilled to change into X-Waiver licensed—a certification that was required up till 2022 to prescribe sure OUD drugs. The physicians additionally accomplished coaching on subjects together with hurt discount and trauma-informed care. The most important enhance in remedy for OUD inside the observe got here after the implementation of the substance use problems clinic.
Affected person suggestions was overwhelmingly constructive: They appreciated how efficient and straightforward the remedies had been to entry, noting that they did not really feel stigmatized by their PCPs.
Dr. Jaffe says applications like these can develop and place PCPs on the entrance strains of combating the opioid epidemic. Sidney Kimmel Medical School college students Sarah Lawson, Allie Hamilton, Jordan Lazarus and postdoctoral researcher Erica Li, Ph.D., helped conduct the research.
“We need primary care providers to be equipped to properly address substance use, both screening and treatment,” Dr. Jaffe says.
Extra data:
Sarah Lawson et al, Analysis of a Multistage Implementation of Medicine for Opioid Use Dysfunction Companies in Main Care, Substance Use & Misuse (2025). DOI: 10.1080/10826084.2025.2496931
Offered by
Thomas Jefferson College
Quotation:
How main care clinics can assist curb the opioid epidemic (2025, September 17)
retrieved 17 September 2025
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