ORN Summer 2025 - Linking Patients to Treatment With Opioid Use Disorder: Breaking Down Barriers with MATTERS-Handout - ORN Summer 2025 - Linking Patients to Treatment With Opioid Use Disorder

Handout - ORN Summer 2025 - Linking Patients to Treatment With Opioid Use Disorder - J Lynch, DO

Pdf Summary

The presentation by Dr. Joshua Lynch outlines the Opioid Response Network (ORN) and the MATTERS program, focusing on improving access to treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD) through medication-assisted treatment (MAT) and telemedicine. Funded by SAMHSA and developed by the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry, the ORN offers technical assistance and connects communities with evidence-based prevention, treatment, recovery, and harm reduction resources.<br /><br />MATTERS efficiently links individuals with OUD to MAT programs around the clock, removing barriers such as counseling requirements or insurance status. The program provides medication vouchers (covering up to 14 days of buprenorphine/naloxone), transportation vouchers for first appointments, peer support connections, and telemedicine evaluations to enable rapid access to care. A user-friendly digital referral platform supports over 2,500 appointment slots, facilitating timely treatment access, often within 24 hours.<br /><br />Research highlights include studies showing high rates of telemedicine appointment completion (88.3%) and same-day buprenorphine prescriptions (77.3%). Telemedicine referrals showed better 30-day retention in treatment than emergency department (ED) referrals, suggesting that integrating telemedicine can enhance outcomes. The MATTERS network expands statewide access to ED-initiated buprenorphine treatment, scaling from one hospital in 2019 to 35 by 2021, with over 200 clinicians trained.<br /><br />Additional work covers naloxone use for overdose reversal, including dosing and administration insights from police bodycam footage, and harm reduction initiatives distributing fentanyl and xylazine test strips through social marketing campaigns reaching thousands statewide.<br /><br />In summary, the presentation highlights MATTERS as a scalable, integrated model combining telemedicine, peer support, digital referrals, and harm reduction to improve OUD treatment access, retention, and patient outcomes, aiming to reduce overdose deaths and address barriers such as stigma, financial limitations, and transportation. Future research will evaluate long-term impacts and broader implementation.

Keywords

Opioid Response Network

MATTERS program

opioid use disorder

medication-assisted treatment

telemedicine

buprenorphine/naloxone

peer support

digital referral platform

harm reduction

naloxone