The California Bridge Program supports expansion of medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) in emergency departments (EDs) and hospital inpatient units across the state. Here, we describe the change in activity before and after the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) California statewide shutdown. Of the 70 participating hospitals regionally distributed across California, 52 report MOUD-related activity monthly. We analyzed data on outcomes of OUD care and treatment: identification of OUD, acceptance of referral, receipt of buprenorphine prescription, administration of buprenorphine, and follow-up linkage to outpatient OUD treatment, from May 2019 to April 2020. In estimating the expected number of patients who met each outcome in April 2020, we found decreases in the expected to observed number of patients across all outcomes (all p-values<0.002): 37% (from 1053 to 667) decrease in the number of patients identified with OUD, 34% (from 632 to 420) decrease in the number of patients who accepted a referral, 48% (from 521 to 272) decrease in the number of patients who were prescribed buprenorphine, 53% (from 501 to 234) decrease in the number of patients who were administered buprenorphine, and 33% (from 416 to 277) decrease in the number of patients who attended at least one follow-up visit for addiction treatment. The COVID-19 California statewide shutdown was associated with an abrupt and large decrease in the progress toward expanded access to OUD treatment.

Background

Medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) using buprenorphine in primary or specialty care settings is accessed primarily by persons with private health insurance, stable housing, and no polysubstance use. This paper applies Social Cognitive Theory to frame links between social factors and treatment outcomes among patients with social and economic disadvantages who are seeking MOUD at California Bridge Program (CA Bridge) hospitals.

Methods

Electronic medical records for patients identified with OUD between January-April, 2020 receiving care at CA Bridge hospitals defined outcomes: hospital-administered buprenorphine; provision of buprenorphine prescription at discharge. Multi-level models assessed whether social factors-housing status, insurance type, and co-methamphetamine use-predicted outcomes while accounting for group-level effects of treating hospital and controlling for age, race/ethnicity, and gender.

Results

15 CA Bridge hospitals yielded 845 patient records. Most patients received hospital-administered buprenorphine (58 %) and/or a buprenorphine prescription (55 %); 26 % received neither treatment. Patients with unstable housing had greater odds of hospital-administered buprenorphine compared to patients with stable housing. Patients with Medicaid had greater odds of receiving a buprenorphine prescription compared to patients with other insurance. Co-methamphetamine use was not associated with outcomes.

Conclusions

Patients with OUD are successful in accessing same-day MOUD in CA Bridge hospital settings over a significant period. Importantly, access to MOUD in these settings was facilitated for patients traditionally not treated using buprenorphine, i.e., those with housing instability, Medicaid insurance, and co-methamphetamine use. Findings suggest barriers to MOUD for patients with social and economic disadvantages can be lowered by changing treatment delivery.