Doctors could be Doing More with Buprenorphine

(Winter 2016) Recent research reveals that a majority of doctors approved to prescribe buprenorphine, a medication used to counter opioid addiction, are seeing well below their capacity of these patients. Over 20% of government-approved physicians saw no more than three patients, and less than 10% treated over 75 patients. The study was launched when doctors were permitted to see as many as 30 patients at a time for the first year and then up to 100 patients thereafter. This summer, however, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) enlarged its rule, now allowing physicians to treat up to 275 patients each if they have additional training in addiction psychiatry or addiction medicine from an approved entity or work in an office HHS has named as a qualified facility.

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