HHS Rule Expands Use of Buprenorphine to Combat Opioid Misuse

The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced a new action plan to build on the HHS Opioid Initiative to combat opioid misuse in the United States.

“The opioid epidemic is one of the most pressing public health issues in the United States,” HHS Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell stated. “More Americans now die from drug overdoses than car crashes, and these overdoses have hit families from every walk of life and across our entire nation.”
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The 3-pronged initiative aims to improve opioid prescribing practices, expand access to medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder, and increase the use of naloxone to reverse opioid overdoses.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has passed a final rule that extends the number of patients to whom qualifying practitioners can prescribe buprenorphine, a medication used to treat opioid use disorder, from 100 patients for 1 year or more to up to 275 patients. However, practitioners must have additional credentials in addiction medicine or addiction psychiatry from a specialty medical board or professional society or practice in a qualified setting to obtain the new waiver.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has proposed to remove the pain management survey questions from the hospital payment scoring calculation in an attempt to eliminate the perception that there is financial pressure to overprescribe opioids. The questions will remain only as a measurement of inpatient management experience.

Additionally, Indian Health Service prescribers and pharmacists are now required to check state Prescription Drug Monitoring Program databases before prescribing or dispensing opioids for pain for more than 7 days.

“At HHS, we are helping to lead the nationwide effort to address the opioid epidemic by taking a targeted approach focused on prevention, treatment, and intervention,” Burwell said. “These actions build on this approach.”

—Amanda Balbi

Reference:

HHS announces new actions to combat opioid epidemic [news release]. Washington, DC: US Dept of Health and Human Services; July 6, 2016. http://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2016/07/06/hhs-announces-new-actions-combat-opioid-epidemic.html. Accessed July 7, 2016.