Mid Coast Hospital in Brunswick, Maine, became the first hospital in the state to start prescribing Suboxone, a prescription medicine that contains buprenorphine and naloxone, for opioid addiction in the emergency department, according to the Bangor Daily News.
The hospital's ED/Addiction Resource Center Enhanced Referrals for Suboxone and Alcohol program lets emergency physicians treat low-risk alcohol withdrawal and opioid withdrawal. Additionally, the program allows physicians to start treating patients with Suboxone while they are still in the ED, according to a release from the hospital obtained by the Bangor Daily News.
Hospital officials said the program, which also includes the ED's Behavioral Health Crisis Team, showed "positive results" in the months following its launch. The program lets physicians begin treatment sooner on patients already in the ED. "If that opportunity is not seized at that moment, it may not present again," said Ranjiv Advani, MD, of the hospital's ED.
The combination of substance abuse and mental health treatment can considerably increase patient access to treatment and improve outcomes in opioid dependence, said Leah Bauer, MD, of Mid Coast's Addiction Resource Center.
Patients are referred to the ARC for treatment after they start treatment in the ED. Patients typically have appointments for the ARC on the next business day, according to the hospital.
From the program's launch in mid-October to the end of January, 11 patients were referred to the ARC and nine arrived at their first ARC treatment session, hospital officials added.