NIATx Receives Grant To Promote Use Of Buprenorphine

NIATx has received a grant from NIDA for the project "To Test a Payer/Treatment Agency Intervention to Increase Use of Buprenorphine." This grant is part of the National Institutes of Health's program announcement to promote the dissemination and implementation of evidence-based practices (EBPs). This five-year project will use a randomized trial research design to study ways to increase use of buprenorphine for opioid dependence in selected Ohio counties.

Ohio was selected for the study because it is among the states where opioid abuse has become a public health crisis. In 2008, accidental drug overdose became the leading cause of injury death in Ohio, surpassing motor vehicle crashes and suicide for the first time on record.

Using an approach that emerged from the Advancing Recovery: State and Provider Partnerships for Quality Addiction Care (funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation), this project will examine whether changes in payer policy and enhanced provider training can increase adoption of buprenorphine.

"We anticipate that this project will provide new insights into addiction therapy, in particular the role that payers and treatment organizations play in implementing and disseminating EBPs related to opiate use," says Todd Molfenter, principal investigator for the study.