Statement of problem/hypothesis: The Drug Addiction Treatment Act of 2000 is a Federal law (Public Law 106-310) that allows physicians, and only specially trained and certified physicians, to prescribe buprenorphine, a scheduled narcotic, for treatment of opioid addiction. Buprenorphine provides patients with opioid use disorder an effective, office-based alternative to treatment in federally designated methadone maintenance clinics that are unavailable in most rural areas. To prescribe buprenorphine, physicians must complete a training course on the use of the drug and then apply for a DEA waiver. Physician assistants (PAs) and nurse practitioners (NPs) have not been eligible for waivers, even in states that allow them to prescribe scheduled narcotics. This study quantified the potential increase in the ability of rural providers to treat opioid use disorder with buprenorphine if waivers are available to PAs and NPs.

Publications

• Geographic Distribution of Providers With a DEA Waiver to Prescribe Buprenorphine for the Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder: A 5‐Year Update
  Journal Article
  WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
  Date: 06/2018
  This study compares the geographic distribution of physicians, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners waivered to prescribe buprenorphine in 2012 and 2017.
• Projected Contributions of Nurse Practitioners and Physicians Assistants to Buprenorphine Treatment Services for Opioid Use Disorder in Rural Areas
  Journal Article
  WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
  Date: 08/2018
  This study projected the potential increase in medication assisted treatment availability for opioid use disorder (OUD) provided by nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs) for rural patients under the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, which allows NPs and PAs to obtain a waiver to prescribe buprenorphine for OUD.