Access to Medications for Opioid Use Disorder in Rural Versus Urban Veterans Health Administration Facilities.

ABSTRACT:

Background

For patients with opioid use disorder (OUD), medications for OUD (MOUD) reduce morbidity, mortality, and return to use. Nevertheless, a minority of patients receive MOUD, and underutilization is pronounced among rural patients.

Objective

While Veterans Health Administration (VHA) initiatives have improved MOUD access overall, it is unknown whether access has improved in rural VA health systems specifically. How "Community Care," healthcare paid for by VHA but received from non-VA providers, has affected rural access is also unknown.

Design

Data for this observational study were drawn from the VHA Corporate Data Warehouse. Facility rurality was defined by rural-urban commuting area code of the primary medical center. International Classification of Diseases

SUBMITTER: Wyse JJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9870655 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature