Manuscript Title
Methadone Dosing at New York State Opioid Treatment Programs Following Initial Revisions to Federal Regulations
Journal
Drug and Alcohol Dependence
OASAS Authors
Ashly E Jordan, Marcus A Bachhuber, Pat Lincourt, Shazia Hussain, Jason Rubinfeld, Chinazo O Cunningham
Other Authors
Ellenie Tuazon, Christian Jimenez
Citation
Jordan AE, Bachhuber MA, Tuazon E, Jimenez C, Lincourt P, Hussain S, Rubinfeld J, Cunningham CO. Methadone dosing at New York State opioid treatments programs following initial revisions to federal regulations. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2024; 258:111283. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2024.111283.
Key Takeaways
- Historically, methadone treatment required daily visits to an opioid treatment program (OTP). This changed when a federal rule during the COVID-19 public health emergency allowed flexible methadone dosing. This rule was made permanent in 2024 after research showed these flexibilities improved treatment outcomes.
- Flexible dosing, in addition to financing changes, provided the first opportunity to transform methadone treatment delivery in NYS. With these changes, fewer people were required to visit an OTP daily for their methadone treatment initially; however, strict methadone dosing schedules began to return overtime.
- OASAS is working to support OTPs in adopting flexible methadone dosing to ensure New Yorkers with opioid use disorder can receive this life-saving medication.