A new report finds 11 states and the District of Columbia don’t have enough doctors who are able to prescribe a treatment experts say is key to treating opioid addiction.
The consulting firm Avalere Health, which counts pharmaceutical and life science companies among its clients, found that 11 states and the District of Columbia lack enough providers certified to prescribe buprenorphine, which helps prevent relapses among addicts. The findings highlight the importance of expanding the number of healthcare providers who can prescribe the treatment, Avalere said.
The analysis that examines providers in 2016 comes as Congress and the Trump administration are devoting more attention to expanding treatment options to fight opioid abuse, an epidemic that federal data shows kills more than 100 Americans a day.
The 2016 Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act allows nurse practitioners and physician assistants to apply for a federal waiver to prescribe buprenorphine.
“Even with policies designed to increase the number of providers who can prescribe buprenorphine, the availability of providers is uneven across states,” Avalere said.
It looked at the number of opioid deaths in all states in 2016, before CARA took effect, compared to the number of certified providers able to give out buprenorphine.
It found that the national average was 1.6 opioid overdoses per buprenorphine prescriber.
However, the analysis found much lower-than-average rates in the District of Columbia and 10 states: Iowa, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
For instance, Iowa had 184 opioid deaths in 2016 and 70 providers allowed to provide buprenorphine.
Nine other states had slightly lower-than-average rates.
