CMS Study Supports Telehealth use for Substance Abuse

Sarasota, FL (WorkersCompensation.com) – Earlier this year, the Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center issued a hazard alert over the alarming increase of drug overdoses on the job. According to data from the CDC, Kentucky is not the only state to have experienced a drastic increase in drug overdose deaths the last few years. Four additional states have had increases over 50 percent from 2019 to 2020. Mississippi had a 55.1 percent increase, followed by West Virginia at 54.2 percent, South Carolina at 53.7 percent, and Louisiana at 50.9 percent. Kentucky’s increase was 51.4 percent during that period, despite a concerted effort to curb the opioid epidemic.

Statistics from the CDC show that one in five workers are struggling with mental health issues. With a high level of mental health problems in the workplace, it is critical that employers become proactive in their approach to maintaining a healthy workforce.

During the pandemic, telehealth services increased dramatically, with a clear utilization of mental health services. Additionally, telehealth use for opioid use disorder saw a 35-fold increase during the pandemic.    According to a recent study, led by the CDC in partnership with the National Institutes of Health, telehealth may be the perfect tool that employers can utilize to address those employees that have the potential to struggle with substance abuse due to history or recent injury.

Published last month in JAMA Psychiatry, researchers analyzed how healthcare providers utilized certain medications for opioid use disorder in over 175,000 Medicare patients from September 2018 to February 2021. Waivers were initiated during the pandemic that allowed providers to prescribe naltrexone, methadone, and buprenorphine virtually by visual or audio only means. 

The study found that only a small portion of patients received their medications on at least 80 percent before and during the pandemic. Overall however, the data reflected that the use of telehealth was associated with improved compliance, and reduced odds of overdose. The researchers found that treatment retention was the same or better than those patients treated prior to the pandemic via in person treatment programs. Additionally, the researchers found that the levels of medically treated overdoses were the same as pre-pandemic levels, despite an overall overdose death increase of 30 percent from 2019 to 2020.

The researchers believe that more telehealth research is needed, especially in relation to continued illicit opioid use and overdose deaths. Additionally they believe there is a need to investigate further the barriers to telehealth with a focus on making the process more patient-centered. The researchers are of the opinion that the findings support expansion of emergency authority provisions regarding medication treatment for opioid use disorder via telehealth.

Share This Article: