UAMS’s new hybrid approach to the treatment of opioid addiction will hopefully eliminate some of the negative stereotypes associated with using methadone to treat opioid use disorder.
The drug methadone, commonly used to treat opioid addiction by detoxification and maintenance, requires daily visits to an outpatient clinic as well as countless counseling sessions and drug screenings. The intensive treatment also comes with a sense of stigma that can be more difficult to deal with than the actual therapy.
Recognizing the barrier that daily visits can pose, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Center for Addiction Services and Treatment is rolling out a hybrid care program designed to better meet the needs of its patients and improve their chances of overcoming their dependence on opioids.
The Center for Addiction Services (CAST), per federal and state regulations, requires patients to make five or six daily trips each week to the clinic to receive their methadone and to undergo two hours of group therapy and another hour of counseling each week. Working with Sonara Health, CAST is now able to allow eligible patients the opportunity to record videos of themselves taking their medication. The videos are uploaded to the company’s secure repository, where the CAST care team will review them.
“Subsidized by a federal grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the new hybrid approach to treatment also will hopefully eliminate some of the negative stereotypes associated with using methadone to treat opioid use disorder and increase the number of patients with an opioid addiction who seek treatment,” said Michael Mancino, M.D., CAST’s medical director.
“This will help people who may have multiple jobs or children they have to care for. It will make their schedules a lot easier,” said Mancino. “They will get the same level of care we’ve always provided; it will just be easier to access now.”
UAMS is the state’s only health sciences university and only adult Level 1 trauma center. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 11,000 employees, including 1,200 physicians who provide care to patients at UAMS, its regional campuses, Arkansas Children’s, the VA Medical Center, and Baptist Health.
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