Buprenorphine Access

CaroNova is partnering with experts from Bridge, a Public Health Institute, to educate hospitals in the Carolinas on implementing buprenorphine treatment in emergency departments to treat patients experiencing opioid use disorder or withdrawal.  

Medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), such as buprenorphine, have been identified as the gold standard for evidence-based treatment due to their ability to temper the withdrawal symptoms that make it difficult for people with OUD to stop using opioids, and to help protect against overdose.  

Studies show that ED-based initiation of buprenorphine increases engagement in outpatient treatment and reduces the risk of subsequent opioid overdose. See recent JAMA article here. 

Hospital participate in an intensive series of trainings and implementation assistance led by the Bridge national team to learn how to implement an ED-buprenorphine program and address site-level barriers. All participating hospitals have improved processes and outcomes related to prescribing buprenorphine in their EDs by implementing evidenced-based practices with the support of the Bridge team.  

Continued advancements in MOUD in SC require collaboration, partnership and flexible approaches. SCHA, CaroNova and the SC Center of Excellence in Addiction will host a roundtable session in January 2025 that will engage hospitals and their community partners in meaningful, facilitated dialogue around best practices, challenges, and opportunities for the development of a SC Buprenorphine toolkit. This toolkit will be valuable in adapting various models to scale positive outcomes in MOUD treatment. 

SCHA has highlighted MUSC Health’s innovative MOUD Access Project here.

For more information or to learn more about participating, contact Angel Bourdon (abourdon@scha.org), Jodi Manz (jmanz@daodas.sc.gov) or Jessica Foster (jfoster@ncha.org).