Tackling addiction in primary care.

In the exam room, providers can identify--and often treat--patients who need help with a substance use disorder.

Association of Project ECHO Training With Buprenorphine Prescribing by Primary Care Clinicians in Minnesota for Treating Opioid Use Disorder.

Importance: Buprenorphine is an approved medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD); however, prescribing buprenorphine is limited by a requirement to obtain a waiver to prescribe it (hereinafter, "DATA [Drug Abuse Treatment Act]-waiver") and a lack of knowledge of the best practices among clinicians. Objective: To examine how Project ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) telementoring is associated with changes in DATA-waiver attainment and buprenorphine prescribing among primary care clinicians in Minnesota. Design, Setting, and Participants: In this retrospective matched-cohort study of 918 clinicians, ECHO-trained clinicians were enrolled on the date they first attended ECHO (January 3, 2018, to June 11, 2020); comparison clinicians were assigned an enrollment date from the distribution of the first ECHO sessions. The baseline period was 12 months preceding enrollment, with follow-up for 18 months or until June 30, 2020. The ECHO-trained clinicians were a population-based sample of primary care clinicians who treated Medicaid patients in Minnesota 12 months prior to the initiation of ECHO training. This analysis used propensity score matching to select comparison clinicians who were similar across demographic and clinical practice characteristics at baseline in a 2:1 ratio. Follow-up was available for 167 ECHO-trained clinicians (54.6%) and 330 comparison clinicians (53.9%) at 18 months. Exposures: ECHO-trained clinicians attended at least 1 weekly, hour-long ECHO session. Comparison clinicians never participated in any ECHO sessions. Main Outcomes and Measures: DATA-waiver attainment, any buprenorphine prescribing, and the percentage of patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) who were prescribed buprenorphine. Results: The final sample included 918 clinicians (ECHO-trained [306]; comparison [612]), of whom 620 (67.5%) practiced outside the metropolitan Twin Cities (Minneapolis-St Paul) region. The mean (SD) age of the ECHO-trained clinicians was 46.0 (12.1) years and that of the comparison clinicians was 45.7 (12.3) years. Relative to the changes among the matched comparison clinicians, the ECHO-trained clinicians were more likely to obtain a DATA-waiver (difference-in-differences, 22.7 percentage points; 95% CI, 15.5-29.9 percentage points; P < .001) and prescribe any buprenorphine (16.5 percentage points; 95% CI, 10.4-22.5 percentage points; P < .001) after 6 quarters of follow-up. ECHO-trained clinicians prescribed buprenorphine to a greater share of patients with OUD (a difference of 7.6 percentage points per month; 95% CI, 4.6-10.6 percentage points per month; P < .001), relative to that prescribed by the comparison clinicians. Conclusions and Relevance: According to the findings of this matched-cohort study, ECHO telementoring may be associated with greater prescribing of buprenorphine by primary care clinicians. These findings suggest that Project ECHO training could be a useful tool for expanding access to MOUD.

Associations Between Polysubstance Use Patterns and Receipt of Medications for Opioid Use Disorder Among Adults in Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder.

OBJECTIVE: To examine trends in polysubstance use among adults in treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD) and estimate associations between polysubstance use patterns and receipt of medications for OUD (MOUD). METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional longitudinal analysis of treatment admissions for opioid use from 1992 to 2017 using the Treatment Episodes Data Set-Admissions (N = 9,440,157). We used multiple logistic regression to examine co-use patterns and estimate associations between receipt of MOUD and polysubstance use categories (opioid only, any methamphetamine, any cocaine, any alcohol, any benzodiazepine). RESULTS: Between 1992 and 2017, treatment admissions involving opioid/cocaine (-17.2 percentage points [PP]) and opioid/alcohol co-use (-12.5 PP) decreased while opioid/methamphetamine (10.1 PP) and opioid/benzodiazepine co-use (5.6 PP) increased. In 2016 to 2017, receipt of medications for OUD was significantly higher for those who used opioids only (38.5%; 95% confidence interval [CI] 38.4-38.6) compared with individuals who used opioids with cocaine (35.7%; 95% CI 35.6-35.9), methamphetamine (23.9%; 95% CI 23.7-24.2), alcohol (25.0%; 95% CI 24.8-25.2), or benzodiazepines (34.6%; 95% CI 34.3-34.9). If those who co-used opioids with other substances received MOUD at the same rate as those who used opioids only, 47,400 additional people would have received MOUD between 2016 and 2017. CONCLUSIONS: Opioid/methamphetamine and opioid/benzodiazepine increased substantially between 1992 and 2017. Co-use of other substances with opioids was associated with significantly lower receipt of MOUD. Treatment facilities should increase access to MOUD for individuals who co-use opioids with other substances. This change would extend evidence-based treatment to thousands of individuals and save lives.

Demographics, bystander CPR, and AED use in out-of-hospital pediatric arrests.

BACKGROUND: In 2005 the American Heart Association released guidelines calling for routine use of automated external defibrillators during pediatric out-of-hospital arrest. The goal of this study was to determine if these guidelines are used during resuscitations. METHODS: We conducted a secondary analysis of prospectively collected data from 29 U.S. cities that participate in the Cardiac Arrest Registry to Enhance Survival (CARES). Patients were included if they were older than 1 year of age and had a documented resuscitation attempt from October 1, 2005 through December 31, 2009 from an arrest presumed to be cardiac in nature. Hierarchical multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the associations between age, demographic factors, and AED use. RESULTS: 129 patients were 1-8 years of age (younger children), 88 patients were 9-17 years of age (older children), and 19,338 patients were ≥18 years of age (adults). When compared to adults, younger children were less likely to be found in a shockable rhythm (young children 11.6%, adults 23.7%) and were less likely to have an AED used (young children 16.3%, adults 28.3%). Older children had a similar prevalence of shockable rhythms as adults (31.8%) and AED use (20.5%). A multivariable analysis demonstrated that, when compared to adults, younger children had decreased odds of having an AED used (OR 0.42, 95% CI 0.26-0.69), but there was no difference in AED use among older children and adults. CONCLUSIONS: Young children suffering from presumed out-of-hospital cardiac arrests are less likely to have a shockable rhythm when compared to adults, and are less likely to have an AED used during resuscitation.