Healio (4/6) reports, “Medicare beneficiaries using telehealth services for opioid use disorder” (OUD) “during the COVID-19 pandemic had a 33% lower risk for fatal drug overdose compared with beneficiaries receiving no treatment,” investigators concluded in a study that “identified 105,162 beneficiaries who began OUD-related care from March 2019 to August 2019 – deemed the pre-pandemic cohort – and 70,479 beneficiaries who initiated care from March 2020 to August 2020 – deemed the pandemic cohort.” Next, “each cohort was followed until the February following treatment initiation.” The findings were published online March 29 in a brief report in JAMA Psychiatry.
Related Links:
— “Telehealth services for opioid addiction reduced overdose deaths during COVID-19 pandemic “Kalie VanDewater, Healio, April 6, 2023