Use of Telehealth During the Pandemic Tied to Fewer Opioid Overdoses

Medicare enrollees with opioid use disorder (OUD) who took advantage of the expanded telehealth access during the pandemic had lower odds of needing treatment for an overdose and were also more likely to stay on medication for OUD, a longitudinal cohort study found.

The likelihood of experiencing a medically treated overdose was 33 percent lower during the pandemic for those enrollees who received OUD-related telehealth services (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 0.67, 95 percent CI 0.63-0.71), according to researchers led by Christopher Jones, PharmD, DrPH, acting director of the CDC's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control in Atlanta, writing in JAMA Psychiatry.

And the receipt of OUD-related telehealth services also increased the odds of OUD-medication retention among enrollees (aOR 1.27, 95 percent CI 1.14-1.41), demonstrating a "protective effect" for this population, Jones told MedPage Today. Head over to MedPage Today to read more about it.