Research Highlight

Overdose is the leading cause of death among people with opioid use disorder (OUD) who are experiencing homelessness. Innovative care models that meet this population outside of office-based settings can improve access to buprenorphine, a medication for treating OUD, and avert fatal overdoses. In this study, Avik Chatterjee, lead author and addiction specialist at Boston […]

Rachel was making her 25th visit to the emergency department. The wound on her leg from injecting drugs had spread to her entire calf and required a lengthy course of antibiotic treatment in the hospital. The few times she had been admitted to the hospital, she had left without finishing treatment because the pain and […]

More than 4 million people in the U.S. live with a hepatitis C virus (HCV) diagnosis. However, as of 2022, fewer than one-third of individuals infected with HCV have been cured due to barriers related to high direct-acting antiviral (DAA) pricing and the steps involved in determining someone’s degree of liver disease or fibrosis. In […]

In the last eight years, emergency departments (EDs) have seen an influx of visits related to opioid use disorder (OUD). For the same reason, researchers have been citing EDs to be a critical setting and reachable moment for initiating OUD medications, the gold standard of care. Buprenorphine is advantageous as a low-barrier OUD treatment compared […]

Over the last two decades, injection opioid use has increased among reproductive-aged women, with resultant increases in mother-to-child hepatitis C virus (HCV) transmissions in the U.S. Direct-acting antiviral (DAA) treatment is highly effective at reducing and eliminating the risk of HCV transmissions. Yet, studies show lower odds of receiving DAA treatment for women compared to […]

One of the key questions researchers ask when conducting an economic evaluation is: How much does this intervention cost to an individual, organization, or society at large? The process requires researchers to identify the perspectives of affected stakeholders and analyze the costs related to the intervention. To better understand the burdens and economic impact of […]

Substance use disorders (SUD), and especially opioid use disorder (OUD), are prevalent within the criminal-legal system.  Recently, there has been increased alignment of OUD care across the criminal-legal system with the patient-centered American Society of Addiction Medicine guidelines. Whether by choice or through legislation, carceral facilities are increasingly offering FDA-approved medications for OUD (MOUD), which […]

Access to health insurance is crucial to gaining the necessary diagnostic and therapeutic services to achieve and maintain good health. Insurance is especially necessary to access medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) as the cost of MOUD can be a barrier to staying in treatment. If insurance coverage is disrupted, MOUD treatment may be more […]

Direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) have been available since 2015 for hepatitis C (HCV). Nonetheless, very few patients with HCV initiate DAA treatment, ranging from 5% to 30%. The location where a patient is first diagnosed can also influence the care patients receive afterward, especially when a referral to a specialist or coordinated care is needed. In […]

Peer support services (PSS) play an increasingly important role in supporting recovery for people with substance use disorder (SUD). Through these services, peer support workers combine lived experience and professional training to provide health education, encouragement and empathy, recovery modeling, and concrete assistance in overcoming barriers to recovery. As of 2018, 37 Medicaid programs covered PSS for SUD. In a research letter in JAMA Network Open, Dr. Yuhua Bao, professor of population health sciences, and colleagues investigated multi-state utilization of Medicaid-covered PSS in 2019. Researchers found that overall use of Medicaid-covered […]

Since 2021, over 100,000 individuals have died each year from a drug overdose, with approximately 76 percent of those deaths involving opioids.  As the US health care system contends with this growing health crisis, improved access to evidence-based medication treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD) is imperative. Pharmacoeconomics, a branch of health economics used to evaluate comparative clinical, person-centered, and economic outcomes […]

Children with perinatally acquired hepatitis C virus (HCV) are now eligible to receive direct-acting antivirals (DAAs), a highly effective treatment for HCV, as early as the age of 3. Despite existing studies demonstrating DAA’s high efficacy and tolerance among adults and children between the 3 and 12 years old, there has been low uptake due […]