Racial and ethnic diversity in academic nursing leadership: A cross-sectional analysis.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: To characterize the representation of racial and ethnic minoritized faculty in leadership positions at the top 50 National Institutes of Health-ranked academic nursing institutions. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional observational study to characterize the racial/ethnic composition of academic leaders, including those in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) positions from September 2020 to December 2020. DISCUSSION: Among the 409 leaders, the sample was predominantly composed of females (86.6%), White leaders (80.9%), affiliated with public institutions (75.1%), and in the southern region (42.1%). Exactly 13.6% were from minoritized groups. Minoritized leaders were less likely to hold dean and higher executive positions than their nonminoritized counterparts (p < .002). DEI leadership positions were mostly concentrated in lower executive positions (e.g., director) and primarily consisted of minoritized leaders (>60%). CONCLUSION: Underrepresentation of racial and ethnic minoritized individuals in academic nursing leadership persists, necessitating structural interventions within nursing academia to promote inclusivity. Achieving this goal requires a concerted investment in diversifying academic nursing leadership and ensuring positions that minoritized leaders are in, hold weight.

Mapping Buprenorphine Access at Philadelphia Pharmacies.

OBJECTIVES: Buprenorphine is not reliably stocked in many pharmacies, and pharmacy-level barriers may deter patients from opioid use disorder care. We surveyed all outpatient pharmacies in Philadelphia to describe variation in buprenorphine access and developed a map application to aid in identifying pharmacies that stock the medication. METHODS: Using a dataset from the Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs, we conducted a telephone survey of operating outpatient pharmacies (N = 422) about their buprenorphine stocking and dispensing practices. We used ArcGIS Pro 3.0.3 to join US Census Bureau ZIP code-level race and ethnicity data, conduct descriptive analyses, and create a map application. RESULTS: We collected data from 351 pharmacies (83% response rate). Two hundred thirty-eight pharmacies (68%) indicated that they regularly stock buprenorphine; 6 (2%) would order it when a prescription is sent. Ninety-one (26%) said that they do not stock or order buprenorphine, and 16 (5%) were unsure. We identified 137 "easier access" pharmacies (39%), meaning they regularly stock buprenorphine, dispense to new patients, and have no dosage maximums. Zip codes with predominantly White residents had a median (interquartile range) of 3 (2-4) "easier access" pharmacies, and those with predominantly Black residents a median (interquartile range) of 2 (1-4.5). Nine zip codes had no "easier access" pharmacies, and 3 had only one; these 3 zip codes are areas with predominantly Black residents. CONCLUSIONS: Buprenorphine access is not equitable across Philadelphia and a quarter of pharmacies choose not to carry the medication. Our map application may be used to identify pharmacies in Philadelphia that stock buprenorphine.

Development of a systematic social observation tool for monitoring use of harm reduction supplies.

BACKGROUND: Harm reduction services such as safer injection supply distribution are essential to reducing morbidity and mortality among people who use drugs (PWUD); however, local use of harm reduction supplies (e.g., tourniquets, saline solution) is difficult to routinely and systematically monitor. The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a systematic social observation tool designed to assess use of harm reduction supplies at the street block level. METHODS: Data collection took place on a random sample of 150 blocks located throughout the Kensington neighborhood of North Philadelphia from November 2021 to January 2022. We measured inter-rater reliability by two-way mixed-effects intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC) with the consistency agreement definition and internal consistency reliability using Cronbach's alpha and McDonald's omega. Exploratory factor analysis with principal component extraction and promax rotation assessed internal consistency. We validated scales against locations of public syringe disposal boxes, a proxy measure for areas of concentrated drug use, using logistic regression. RESULTS: Naloxone canisters, syringe caps, saline and sterile water solution bottles showed the highest reliability (ICC≥0.7). Items also showed high internal consistency (alpha, omega>0.7). Exploratory factor analysis identified one, three-item scale with high internal consistency: syringe caps, vials, and baggies (alpha = 0.85; omega = 0.85)-all supplies used concurrently with drug injection but not discarded in syringe disposal boxes. Drug use (OR = 1.78, 95 % CI = (1.48, 2.23)), harm reduction (OR = 3.53, 95 % CI = (2.20, 6.12)), and EFA scales (OR = 1.85, 95 %CI = (1.51, 2.34)) were significantly and positively associated with being within walking distance (≤0.25 miles or 0.4 km) of a syringe disposal box. CONCLUSION: This study provides an efficient tool with high reliability and validity metrics to assess community uptake of harm reduction supplies designed for use by community organizations, policy makers, or other groups providing resources to PWUD.

"Because of this rotation, this is what I want to do": Implementation and evaluation of a telehealth opioid use disorder clinical placement for nurse practitioner students.

ABSTRACT: The lack of clinicians comfortable prescribing buprenorphine is a barrier to access for people with opioid use disorder (OUD). Accordingly, a telehealth OUD treatment clinic, Ophelia, launched a clinical training program for nurse practitioner (NP) students. The goal of this study was to assess a telehealth-based model of OUD clinical training. To evaluate the program, we (1) identified students' knowledge related to providing OUD care to patients before and after their clinical rotation with Ophelia and (2) characterized students' attitudes about providing OUD care following their clinical rotation with Ophelia. Online pre- and postsurveys were conducted with 57 and 29 students, respectively, and semistructured interviews were conducted with 19 students who completed clinical rotations with Ophelia. We used quantitative descriptive analysis to compare presurvey and postsurvey results and conducted thematic analysis to analyze qualitative interview data. We identified three themes from the interviews: the continuum of learning opportunities, the comfort providing OUD treatment following participants' clinical rotation, and the relevance of a substance use disorder clinical rotation for all NP students. The survey also supported these findings. Of note, there were descriptive differences between presurvey and postsurvey responses related to an increase in knowledge, preparedness, and acquisition of skills to treat OUD. Using a telehealth clinical rotation for NP students to learn about OUD treatment may represent an important step in increasing the number of clinicians who can prescribe buprenorphine. These findings can inform interventions and policies that target clinician training barriers.

Urine Drug Screening in a Telehealth Setting for the Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder.

Importance: Amid rapid and widespread adoption of telehealth-based opioid treatment (TBOT), there is an urgent need for rigorous studies exploring the feasibility and characteristics of urine drug screening (UDS). Objective: To investigate administration patterns and results of UDS to assess feasibility of UDS and patient outcomes in a TBOT setting. Design: This observational cohort study was conducted between January 1, 2021, and December 6, 2022, and included patients with opioid use disorder treated in Ophelia, a TBOT treatment platform in 14 states. Data analysis was performed from January to March 2023. Main Outcomes and Measures: Number and percentage of patients with UDS within 30, 90, and 180 days of intake, grouped by adherence to clinical protocols. Associations were assessed between baseline characteristics and UDS completion and opioid positivity in first 30 days using χ2 tests. Baseline and 180-day follow-up UDS results were compared using McNemar tests. Results: Among 3395 patients (mean [SD] age, 38.2 [9.3] years, mostly male [54.1%], non-Hispanic White [81.5%], urban-residing [80.3%], and cash-pay at intake [74.0%]), 2782 (83.3%) completed a UDS within 30 days (90.0% among protocol-adherent patients, 67.0% among protocol-nonadherent patients). A total of 2750 of 2817 (97.6%) patients retained more than 90 days completed 1 or more UDS, as did 2307 of 2314 (99.7%) patients retained more than 180 days. Younger patients, patients of a racial and ethnic minority group, those living in urban areas, and cash-pay patients were less likely to complete a UDS in the first 30 days. Buprenorphine positivity increased (from 96.9% to 98.4%, P = .004) and opioid positivity declined (from 7.9% to 3.3%, P < .001) over time. Conclusions and Relevance: In this cohort study of patients with opioid use disorder receiving buprenorphine in a remote care environment, UDS was highly feasible, though early UDS completion rates varied across demographic subgroups. The prevalence of unexpected UDS results was low and declined over time in treatment.

Thematic Analysis of State Medicaid Buprenorphine Prior Authorization Requirements.

Importance: Prior authorization (PA) requirements for buprenorphine are associated with lower provision of the medication for the treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD). While Medicare plans have eliminated PA requirements for buprenorphine, many Medicaid plans continue to require them. Objective: To describe and classify buprenorphine coverage requirements based on thematic analysis of state Medicaid PA forms. Design, Setting, and Participants: This qualitative study used a thematic analysis of 50 states' Medicaid PA forms for buprenorphine between November 2020 and March 2021. Forms were obtained from the jurisdiction's Medicaid websites and assessed for features suggesting barriers to buprenorphine access. A coding tool was developed based on a review of a sample of forms, including fields for behavioral health treatment recommendations or mandates, drug screening requirements, and dosage limitations. Main Outcomes and Measures: Outcomes included PA requirements for different buprenorphine formulations. Additionally, PA forms were evaluated for various criteria such as behavioral health, drug screenings, dose-related recommendations or mandates or patient education. Results: Among the total of 50 US states in the analysis, most states' Medicaid plans required PA for at least 1 formulation of buprenorphine. However, the majority did not require a PA for buprenorphine-naloxone. Four key themes of coverage requirements were identified: restrictive surveillance (eg, requirements for urine drug screenings, random drug screenings, pill counts), behavioral health treatment recommendations or mandates (eg, mandatory counseling or 12-step meeting attendance), interfering with or restricting medical decision-making (eg, maximum daily dosages of 16 mg, requiring additional steps for dosages higher than 16 mg), and patient education (eg, information about adverse effects and interactions with other medications). Eleven states (22%) required urine drug screenings, 6 states (12%) required random urine drug screenings, and 4 states (8%) required pill counts. Fourteen states' forms (28%) recommended therapy, and 7 (14%) required therapy, counseling, or participation in group sessions. Eighteen states (36%) specified dosage maximums; among them, 11 (22%) required additional steps for a daily dosage higher than 16 mg. Conclusion: In this qualitative study of state Medicaid PA requirements for buprenorphine, themes were identified that included patient surveillance with drug screenings and pill counts, behavioral health treatment recommendations or mandates, patient education, and dosing guidance. These results suggest that state Medicaid plans' buprenorphine PA requirements for OUD are in conflict with existing evidence and may negatively affect states' efforts to address the opioid overdose crisis.

"I wouldn't need Narcan for myself, but I can have it for somebody else:" perceptions of harm reduction among hospitalized patients with OUD.

BACKGROUND: Extant literature is limited on adoption of evidence-based harm reduction strategies in hospitals. We explored patient perceptions of incorporating harm reduction supplies and education in hospital care with patients with opioid use disorder (OUD). METHODS: Qualitative descriptive study of hospitalized patients with OUD in Philadelphia, PA using semi-structured interviews conducted between April and August of 2022. RESULTS: Three major themes emerged from 21 interviews with hospitalized patients with OUD: (1) Applicability and Acceptability of Harm Reduction Practices for Oneself; (2) Applicability and Acceptability of Harm Reduction Practices for Others; (3) Perceptions of Harm Reduction Conversations. Most participants were familiar with harm reduction but varied in their perceptions of its relevance for their lives. We noted differences in how participants viewed the applicability and acceptably of harm reduction practices that they perceived as intended to help others (e.g., naloxone) versus intended to help themselves (e.g., syringes). Most participants reported that meaningful conversations about drug use did not happen with their care team but that these conversations would have been acceptable if they were conducted in a way consistent with their individual substance use goals. CONCLUSIONS: Patients' interest and perceived acceptability of harm reduction services during hospitalization varied by individual patient factors and the perceived user of specific interventions. Given their positive potential, harm reduction practices should be incorporated in hospitals, but this must be done in a way that is acceptable to patients. Our findings reveal ways to integrate concepts from a harm reduction approach within a traditional medical model. More work is needed to understand the impact of such integration.

"The new normal has become a nonstop crisis": a qualitative study of burnout among Philadelphia's harm reduction and substance use disorder treatment workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic worsened the ongoing overdose crisis in the United States (US) and caused significant mental health strain and burnout among health care workers (HCW). Harm reduction, overdose prevention, and substance use disorder (SUD) workers may be especially impacted due to underfunding, resources shortages, and chaotic working environments. Existing research on HCW burnout primarily focuses on licensed HCWs in traditional environments and fails to account for the unique experiences of harm reduction workers, community organizers, and SUD treatment clinicians. METHODS: We conducted a qualitative secondary analysis descriptive study of 30 Philadelphia-based harm reduction workers, community organizers, and SUD treatment clinicians about their experiences working in their roles during the COVID-19 pandemic in July-August 2020. Our analysis was guided by Shanafelt and Noseworthy's model of key drivers of burnout and engagement. We aimed to assess the applicability of this model to the experiences of SUD and harm reduction workers in non-traditional settings. RESULTS: We deductively coded our data in alignment with Shanafelt and Noseworthy's key drivers of burnout and engagement: (1) workload and job demands, (2) meaning in work, (3) control and flexibility, (4) work-life integration, (5) organizational culture and values, (6) efficiency and resources and (7) social support and community at work. While Shanafelt and Noseworthy's model broadly encompassed the experiences of our participants, it did not fully account for their concerns about safety at work, lack of control over the work environment, and experiences of task-shifting. CONCLUSIONS: Burnout among healthcare providers is receiving increasing attention nationally. Much of this coverage and the existing research have focused on workers in traditional healthcare spaces and often do not consider the experiences of community-based SUD treatment, overdose prevention, and harm reduction providers. Our findings indicate a gap in existing frameworks for burnout and a need for models that encompass the full range of the harm reduction, overdose prevention, and SUD treatment workforce. As the US overdose crisis continues, it is vital that we address and mitigate experiences of burnout among harm reduction workers, community organizers, and SUD treatment clinicians to protect their wellbeing and to ensure the sustainability of their invaluable work.

Telehealth for opioid use disorder: retention as a function of demographics and rurality.

Background: Despite lifesaving medications such as buprenorphine and methadone, the majority of individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD) face access barriers to evidence-based treatment. COVID-19 era regulatory reforms have shown that telehealth can improve access to care, although disparities in clinical outcomes are likely to persist.Objective: We aimed to analyze 180-day and 365-day retention in treatment with buprenorphine for OUD overall and by demographics, hypothesizing that retention would be lower among racial/ethnic minorities and rural patients.Methods: We analyzed data from a cohort of individuals with OUD enrolled in treatment from April 1, 2020 to September 30, 2021, in Pennsylvania and New York using a virtual-first telehealth OUD treatment platform to assess rates of 180-day and 365-day retention. Associations between demographic characteristics and retention were assessed using unadjusted and adjusted logistic regression models.Results: Among 1,378 patients (58.8% male), 180-day retention was 56.4%, and 365-day retention was 48.3%. Adjusted analyses found that only an association between older age and greater odds of 180-day retention was significant (aOR for patients aged 30-50 vs. <30: 1.83 [1.37-2.45]). There were no significant associations between sex, race/ethnicity, state, or rurality with retention.Conclusion: While we were unable to control for socioeconomic variables, we found retention within telehealth services for buprenorphine was high irrespective of geography or race/ethnicity, but disparities with age indicate a subset of patients who may benefit from more intensive services early in care.

Barriers and facilitators to primary care engagement for people who inject drugs: A systematic review.

INTRODUCTION: People who inject drugs (PWID) have a greater burden of multimorbid chronic diseases than the general population. However, little attention has been paid to the engagement in primary care for services related specifically to injection drug use and management of underlying chronic comorbid diseases for this population. This systematic review identified facilitators and barriers to healthcare engagement in the primary care setting among PWID. DESIGN AND METHODS: Studies were identified by a literature search of PubMed, CINAHL, and EMBASE, and by searching the references of retrieved articles. Studies were included if they measured active injection drug use, and outcomes related to primary care engagement characterized by: diagnosis of a health condition, linkage or retention in care, health condition-related outcomes, and reported patient-provider relationship. RESULTS: Twenty-three articles were included. Using the behavioral model, factors within predisposing, enabling, need, and health behavior domains were identified. Having co-located services and a positive patient-provider relationship were among the strongest factors associated with healthcare utilization and engagement while active injection drug use was associated with decreased engagement. CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge, this is the only review of evidence that has examined factors related to primary care engagement for people who inject drugs. Most articles were observational studies utilizing descriptive designs. Although the assessment of the evidence was primarily rated 'Good', this review identifies a significant need to improve our understanding of primary care engagement for PWID. Future research and intervention strategies should consider these findings to better integrate the holistic care needs of PWID into primary care to reduce morbidity and mortality associated with injection drug use and chronic disease. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Primary care engagement is important for preventative care, early diagnosis of disease, and management of chronic diseases, including addressing problems of substance use. This review highlights factors nurses can utilize to facilitate primary care engagement of PWID.

'Red Flags' and 'Red Tape': Telehealth and pharmacy-level barriers to buprenorphine in the United States.

BACKGROUND: Structural vulnerabilities for people who use drugs (PWUD) were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. In this context, federal lawmakers in the United States (U.S.) invoked an exemption to the 2008 Ryan Haight Act requiring in-person evaluation to prescribe buprenorphine for treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD), which allowed for the initiation and maintenance of buprenorphine via telehealth. Despite the potential for telehealth to address some of the geographic disparities in OUD treatment access, recent research has suggested that significant barriers to buprenorphine also exist at the pharmacy level. The purpose of this study was to qualitatively assess how efforts to increase access to buprenorphine via telehealth are implemented by prescribers and pharmacists and experienced by patients. METHODS: Participant observation and semi-structured interviews focused on telehealth for OUD treatment and buprenorphine prescribing and dispensing were conducted with patients (n = 19), prescribers and clinic staff (n = 24), and pharmacists (n = 10) in Pennsylvania and California between May 2020 - May 2021. FINDINGS: While participants stated that telehealth for OUD treatment was a welcome option, pharmacy-level barriers to buprenorphine persisted. Geographical distance from patient to provider or pharmacist continued to serve as "red flags" for pharmacists, leading to pharmacy-level "red tape:" gatekeeping measures including geographic restrictions, telephone prescription "confirmations," prescription cancellations and refusals. Patients' unmet expectations of buprenorphine access in some cases led to unanticipated risks including a return to injection drug use. CONCLUSION: Challenges to increasing buprenorphine access persist in the U.S. even in settings where telehealth is implemented, and telehealth may inadvertently produce new barriers for some patients. Despite national support for policies aimed at increasing access to treatment for substance use disorders rather than punishment, policy shifts from punishment to treatment have not permeated evenly across all geographic areas and populations. Perceived threats of Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) enforcement, and self-defensive institutional practices in pharmacies, reinforce ideologies of drug law enforcement, leading to poor patient outcomes including lack of buprenorphine access.

Lessons Learned From Dear Pandemic, a Social Media-Based Science Communication Project Targeting the COVID-19 Infodemic.

The World Health Organization has identified excessive COVID-19 pandemic-related information as a public health crisis, calling it an "infodemic." Social media allows misinformation to spread quickly and outcompete scientifically grounded information delivered via other methods. Dear Pandemic is an innovative, multidisciplinary, social media-based science communication project whose mission is to educate and empower individuals to successfully navigate the overwhelming amount of information circulating during the pandemic. This mission has 2 primary objectives: (1) to disseminate trustworthy, comprehensive, and timely scientific content about the pandemic to lay audiences via social media and (2) to promote media literacy and information-hygiene practices, equipping readers to better manage the COVID-19 infodemic within their own networks. The volunteer team of scientists publishes 8-16 posts per week on pandemic-relevant topics. Nearly 2 years after it launched in March 2020, the project has a combined monthly reach of more than 4 million unique views across 4 social media channels, an email newsletter, and a website. We describe the project's guiding principles, lessons learned, challenges, and opportunities. Dear Pandemic has emerged as an example of a promising new paradigm for public health communication and intervention. The contributors deliver content in ways that are personal, practical, actionable, responsive, and native to social media platforms. The project's guiding principles are a model for public health communication targeting future infodemics and can bridge the chasm between the scientific community and the practical daily decision-making needs of the general public.

Interventions for hospitalized medical and surgical patients with opioid use disorder: A systematic review.

Background: Concurrent with the opioid overdose crisis there has been an increase in hospitalizations among people with opioid use disorder (OUD), with one in ten hospitalized medical or surgical patients having comorbid opioid-related diagnoses. We sought to conduct a systematic review of hospital-based interventions, their staffing composition, and their impact on outcomes for patients with OUD hospitalized for medical or surgical conditions. Methods: Authors searched PubMed MEDLINE, PsychINFO, and CINAHL from January 2015 through October 2020. The authors screened 463 titles and abstracts for inclusion and reviewed 96 full-text studies. Seventeen articles met inclusion criteria. Extracted were study characteristics, outcomes, and intervention components. Methodological quality was evaluated using the Methodological Quality Rating Scale. Results: Ten of the 17 included studies were controlled retrospective cohort studies, five were uncontrolled retrospective studies, one was a prospective quasi-experimental evaluation, and one was a secondary analysis of a completed randomized clinical trial. Intervention components and outcomes varied across studies. Outcomes included in-hospital initiation and post-discharge connection to medication for OUD, healthcare utilization, and discharge against medical advice. Results were mixed regarding the impact of existing interventions on outcomes. Most studies focused on linkage to medication for OUD during hospitalization and connection to post-discharge OUD care. Conclusions: Given that many individuals with OUD require hospitalization, there is a need for OUD-related interventions for this patient population. Interventions with the best evidence of efficacy facilitated connection to post-discharge OUD care and employed an Addiction Medicine Consult model.

Substance use policy and practice in the COVID-19 pandemic: Learning from early pandemic responses through internationally comparative field data.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created an unprecedented natural experiment in drug policy, treatment delivery, and harm reduction strategies by exposing wide variation in public health infrastructures and social safety nets around the world. Using qualitative data including ethnographic methods, questionnaires, and semi-structured interviews with people who use drugs (PWUD) and Delphi-method with experts from field sites spanning 13 different countries, this paper compares national responses to substance use during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Field data was collected by the Substance Use x COVID-19 (SU x COVID) Data Collaborative, an international network of social scientists, public health scientists, and community health practitioners convened to identify and contextualise health service delivery models and social protections that influence the health and wellbeing of PWUD during COVID-19. Findings suggest that countries with stronger social welfare systems pre-COVID introduced durable interventions targeting structural drivers of health. Countries with fragmented social service infrastructures implemented temporary initiatives for PWUD led by non-governmental organisations. The paper summarises the most successful early pandemic responses seen across countries and ends by calling for greater systemic investments in social protections for PWUD, diversion away from criminal-legal systems toward health interventions, and integrated harm reduction, treatment and recovery supports for PWUD.

"We have to be uncomfortable and creative": Reflections on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on overdose prevention, harm reduction & homelessness advocacy in Philadelphia.

The COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing service delivery interruptions had serious impacts on people who use drugs (PWUD) and people experiencing homelessness, including instability in the drug supply, decreased access to substance use disorder (SUD) treatment and harm reduction supplies, increased substance use and relapse due to stress and isolation, inability to properly isolate and quarantine without stable housing, and risk of COVID-19 spread in congregate living spaces. At the same time, many have noted a potential opportunity for rapid change in health, housing, and drug policy despite previous stagnation-referred to as a "punctuated equilibrium" by Baumgartner and Jones-in response to the pandemic. The pandemic forced some important policy interventions in the United States at both national and local levels, including eviction moratoriums and loosening of drug policy related to substance use treatment. However, to what extent some of these changes will be sustained past the current COVID-19 crisis is still unclear, as is how drug and housing related policy shifts have impacted the work of frontline overdose prevention, substance use treatment, and homelessness advocacy workers. In this qualitative study, we used semi-structured interviews to assess how Philadelphia's harm reduction advocates, community organizers, and SUD treatment clinicians have responded to the overdose and homelessness crises during COVID-19, and how they predict the pandemic and ensuing policy changes will impact the future of overdose prevention, harm reduction efforts, and homelessness advocacy. We interviewed 30 eligible participants during July and August 2020. The analysis of these data yielded three themes: 1/"None of it should be new to anybody": COVID-era issues impacting PWUD and people experiencing homelessness are extensions of existing problems; 2/"An opportunity to actually benefit in some way from this crisis": Possibility for innovation and improved care for PWUD and people experiencing homelessness; and 3/"Nothing we've tried has worked, so we have to be uncomfortable and creative": The uncertain path forward. Despite the many barriers that participants faced to promoting the health and well-being of marginalized communities during the pandemic, they also believed that the pandemic presented an important opportunity for positive policy change that has the potential to promote drug user health into the future, including a continuation of loosened federal restrictions on substance use disorder treatment, legalization of safe consumption spaces, safe supply of substances, and progressive, creative housing solutions.

Acute pain and self-directed discharge among hospitalized patients with opioid-related diagnoses: a cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Patients with substance use disorders are more likely than those without to have a self-directed hospital discharge, putting them at risk for poor health outcomes including progressing illness, readmissions, and death. Inadequate pain management has been identified as a potential motivator of self-directed discharge in this patient population. The objective of this study was to describe the association between acute pain and self-directed discharges among persons with opioid-related conditions; the presence of chronic pain in self-directed discharges was likewise considered. METHODS: We employed a large database of all hospitalizations at acute care hospitals during 2017 in the city of Philadelphia to identify adults with opioid-related conditions and compare the characteristics of admissions ending with routine discharge versus those ending in self-directed discharge. We examined all adult discharges with an ICD-10 diagnoses related to opioid use or poisoning and inspected the diagnostic data to systematically identify acute pain for the listed primary diagnosis and explore patterning in chronic pain diagnoses with respect to discharge outcomes. RESULTS: Sixteen percent of the 7972 admissions involving opioid-related conditions culminated in self-directed discharge, which was more than five times higher than in the general population. Self-directed discharge rates were positively associated with polysubstance use, nicotine dependence, depression, and homelessness. Among the 955 patients with at least one self-directed discharge, 15.4% had up to 16 additional self-directed discharges during the 12-month observation period. Those admitted with an acutely painful diagnosis were almost twice as likely to complete a self-directed discharge, and for patients with multiple admissions, rates of acutely painful diagnoses increased with each admission coinciding with a cascading pattern of worsening infectious morbidity over time. Chronic pain diagnoses were inconsistent for those patients with multiple admissions, appearing, for the same patient, in one admission but not others; those with inconsistent documentation of chronic pain were substantially more likely to self-discharge. CONCLUSIONS: These findings underscore the importance of pain care in disrupting a process of self-directed discharge, intensifying harm, and preventable financial cost and suffering. Each admission represents a potential opportunity to provide harm reduction and treatment interventions addressing both substance use and pain.

Telehealth for opioid use disorder treatment in low-barrier clinic settings: an exploration of clinician and staff perspectives.

BACKGROUND: The majority of individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD) face access barriers to evidence-based treatment, and the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the United States (US) opioid overdose crisis. However, the pandemic has also ushered in rapid transitions to telehealth in the USA, including for substance use disorder treatment with buprenorphine. These changes have the potential to mitigate barriers to care or to exacerbate pre-existing treatment inequities. The objective of this study was to qualitatively explore Philadelphia-based low-barrier, harm-reduction oriented, opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment provider perspectives about and experiences with telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to assess their desire to offer telehealth to patients at their programs in the future. METHODS: We interviewed 22 OUD treatment prescribers and staff working outpatient programs offering OUD treatment with buprenorphine in Philadelphia during July and August 2020. All participants worked at low-barrier treatment programs that provide buprenorphine using a harm reduction-oriented approach and without mandating counseling or other requirements as a condition of treatment. We analyzed the data using thematic content analysis. RESULTS: Our analysis yielded three themes: 1/ Easier access for some: telehealth facilitates care for many patients who have difficulty attending in-person appointments due to logistical and psychological barriers; 2/ A layered digital divide: engagement with telehealth can be seriously limited by patients' access to and comfort with technology; and 3/ Clinician control: despite some clinic staff beliefs that patients should have the freedom to choose their treatment modality, patients' access to treatment via telehealth may hinge on clinician perceptions of patient "stability" rather than patient preferences. CONCLUSIONS: Telehealth may address many access issues, however, barriers to implementation remain, including patient ability and desire to attend healthcare appointments virtually. In addition, the potential for telehealth models to extend OUD care to patients currently underserved by in-person models may partially depend on clinician comfort treating patients deemed "unstable" via this modality. The ability of telehealth to expand access to OUD care for individuals who have previously struggled to engage with in-person care will likely be limited if these patients are not given the opportunity to receive treatment via telehealth.