34% Of Community-Outpatient Behavioral Health Facilities Offer Medications To Treat Opioid Use Disorder

July 1, 2024

In a 20-state review, about 34% of community outpatient mental health facilities offered medications to treat opioid use disorder (MOUD), such as buprenorphine, naltrexone, or methadone. Among the 450 facilities and clinics included in the review, 51% of Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs) and 33% of non-CCBHCs offered MOUD.

Facilities with the following characteristics were more likely to offer MOUD:

• Structured as a CCBHC: Odds of MOUD were 2.11 times higher than non-CCBHCs.
• Provide integrated mental and addiction treatment: Odds of MOUD were 5.21 times higher than non-integrated facilities.
• Offer a specialized program for consumers with co-occurring mental and addiction disorders: Odds of MOUD were 2.25 times higher than facilities without a program for co-occurring disorders.
• Offer housing services: Odds of MOUD were 2.54 times higher than facilities not offering housing services.
• Offer laboratory testing: Odds of MOUD were 2.15 times higher than facilities not offering housing services.

Two payer-related characteristics were associated with the likelihood that MOUD would be available.

• Facility accepts state-financed health insurance plans other than Medicaid: Odds of MOUD were 1.95 times lower than facilities that did accept Medicaid.
• Facility accepts state mental health agency funds: Odds of MOUD were 0.43 times lower than facilities that did not accept state funding.

The majority of the facilities offering MOUD offered buprenorphine (84%). Of those that offered buprenorphine, 96% offered oral/sublingual forms, 43% offered injectable buprenorphine, and less than 1% offered subcutaneous implants. About 70% offered naltrexone, and 14% offered methadone.

These findings were reported in “Availability of Medications for Opioid Use Disorder in Community Mental Health Facilities” by Jonathan Cantor, Ph.D.; Beth Ann Griffin, Ph.D.; Barbara Levitan, BA; and colleagues. The researchers analyzed MOUD availability by surveying staff from a sample of 450 community mental health treatment facilities that had responded to the National Substance Use and Mental Health Services Survey.

The facilities were located in 20 states with a higher than average incidence of opioid use disorder in 2020. The included states were: Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

The full text of “Availability of Medications for Opioid Use Disorder in Community Mental Health Facilities” was published June 18, 2024, by JAMA Network Open. A free abstract is available online at https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2820096 (accessed June 27, 2024).

For more information, contact: Warren Robak, Office of Media Relations, RAND Corporation, 1776 Main Street, Post Office Box 2138, Santa Monica, California 90401-2138; 310-393-0411; Fax: 310-393-4818; Email: robak@rand.org; Website: https://www.rand.org/