Medications for Opioid Use Disorder and Retention in Non-Intensive Outpatient Treatment: The Role of Payment Source

Abstract

Abstract Public health concerns regarding individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD) in the United States have increased due to high opioid-related mortality. Medications for OUD (MOUD) have been proven to be effective. This cross-sectional study utilized the 2018 Treatment Episode Data Set-Discharges for discharge episodes with OUD in non-intensive outpatient service settings that did not complete treatment (n = 30,826). The association between planned use of MOUD and length of stay, and the interaction between planned use of MOUD and payment sources on length of stay were examined by using a random coefficient model. Findings indicated that among treatment episodes with non-completed treatment, planned use of MOUD was associated with longer treatment retention, and the type of payment source had different effects on treatment retention. Implications for future research and social service practice are discussed, focusing on increasing access to treatment and considering the disparity in service infrastructure for OUD.