PA Provider, Public Health Dept. to Boost Virtual Access to OUD Treatment

Penn Medicine and the Philadelphia Department of Public Health have entered into a partnership that will provide patients with opioid use disorder access to a virtual clinic, which includes medication and recovery services.

Typically, patients with opioid use disorder use are prescribed buprenorphine, a medication that acts as a bridge to recovery.

The virtual clinic — which involves clinicians from the health system's urgent care telemedicine service Penn Medicine OnDemand — will allow the patients to participate in video and telephone visits to obtain same-day buprenorphine prescriptions.

“Ensuring patients can make early connections to a peer recovery specialist is a priority for the health department because we recognize how invaluable these healthcare professionals are in helping address our overdose crisis,” said Jeffrey Hom, MD, medical director of the Division of Substance Use Prevention and Harm Reduction in the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, in the press release.

Initially, the COVID-19 pandemic cut access to in-person substance use disorder treatment, but the Drug Enforcement Administration eliminated in-person requirements for treatment to expand access. 

Penn Medicine then began its initial implementation of the virtual care clinic, which involved an initial phone call to a peer recovery specialist, who then called one of two on-call physicians to secure a buprenorphine prescription.

The new version of the clinic, which includes investment from the Department of Public Health, aims to cut down the time to receive a prescription. Penn’s Center for Addiction Medicine and Policy team trained all OnDemand virtual care clinicians to evaluate patients and start buprenorphine treatment.

Penn OnDemand also hired more substance use navigators to field calls and assist patients in the virtual care process.

“We know that rapid access to medications is lifesaving, but there are so many things that get in the way. We wanted patients seeking care to be met with a friendly and knowledgeable person who could get them the care they need without stigma or unnecessary roadblocks, and we needed to find a way do this at scale,” said Margaret Lowenstein, MD, an assistant professor of medicine at Penn Medicine, in the news release. “We believe this is the way we can best accomplish that.”

Research has shown that telehealth can play a key role in ensuring continuous access to substance use disorder treatment.

A study from March 2022 reported positive results regarding virtual access to opioid use treatment in a safety-net clinic. Conducted within a federally qualified health center, the study shows that the treatment retention rate remained in the 90 percent range following the addition of telehealth services.

But there are some barriers to using telehealth to improve access to opioid use disorder treatment, including lack of access to technology and low digital literacy levels.