On Tuesday, November 15, the Department for Health and Human Services (HHS) announced additional steps to expand access to medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for opioid use disorders.
Starting February 2017, Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants will be able to prescribe buprenorphine, a medication typically used to treat opioid use disorders. Once training requirements are met, Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants can apply for a waiver to treat up to 30 patients.
Yesterday’s actions build on one of the three main priorities of HHS Secretary Burwell’s initiative to combat the opioid epidemic: increasing access to MAT for opioid use disorder and reflects public input on the issue.
Updates on training information and the waiver application will be available at http://www.samhsa.gov/medication-assisted-treatment
