Telehealth vs In-Person Evaluation of Addiction Treatment After Visiting the Emergency Department

Conditions

• Opioid Use Disorder

Eligibility Criteria

Sex

ALL

Age

18 Years - N/A

Healthy Volunteers

Not accepted

Interventions

• referral to telehealth treatment — OTHER
  the intervention tested will be referral to get outpatient treatment via telehealth. Participants in the telehealth arm will receive the intervention.
• referral to in person treatment — OTHER
  participants in the in person arm will be referred to in person OUD treatment after they leave the ED

Study Details

Main study objective: compare long-term buprenorphine treatment outcomes for patients who start buprenorphine for opioid use disorder (OUD) in the emergency department and are then referred to get outpatient buprenorphine treatment either via telehealth or at an in-person clinic. Researchers will: Compare rates of establishing outpatient OUD treatment, how long patients stay on buprenorphine, and patients' experience with care to determine whether patient experiences and outcomes are better for patients referred to telehealth treatment versus patients patients referred to in-person treatment after they leave the emergency department. Participants will: Be recruited from 3 different hospital emergency departments. Answer questionnaires at baseline and then 1, 3, 6, and 9 months after their initial emergency department visit.

Key Dates

Start date

Jun 3, 2025

Status verified

Oct 2025

Primary completion

Jun 1, 2029

Completion

Sep 1, 2029

Study Design

Enrollment

528 participants (estimated)

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Arms

• Active Comparator: in person
  Participants will get treatment via CA Bridge, California's statewide program to provide Emergency Department (ED)-based OUD treatment. When clinicians or staff suspect an ED patient may have OUD, they refer the patient to an ED-based counselor who assesses the patient and engages them in OUD care. All patients with OUD get brief counseling and take-home naloxone. Patients willing to start treatment get buprenorphine (via either ED- or home-based induction), a referral for in-person outpatient OUD treatment at a local outpatient clinic or opioid treatment program, and a "bridge" prescription of buprenorphine to last until their first outpatient appointment. CA Bridge counselors maintain contact with patients for up to 30 days to help them establish outpatient care. This is usual care in study hospitals and in the \>80% of California hospitals that participate in CA Bridge.
• Experimental: telehealth
  This arm will comprise the same elements as the "in person" arm except that patients will be referred to get outpatient OUD treatment via telehealth (i.e. phone or video visits). Depending on study site and patient insurance, participants will be referred to get treatment at either a clinic associated with their hospital that offers telehealth OUD treatment or from a digital health company that provides on-demand telehealth OUD treatment and support services via video and phone visits.

Primary Outcome Measure

buprenorphine retention [ Time Frame: 6 months ]

Central Contacts

• Dominique Ritley, MPH
  916-734-7391
  [email protected]
• Stephen Henry, MD MSc
  916-734-7391
  [email protected]

Locations (3)

Find similar trials in El Centro, CA

Related Studies

• Local Participatory Systems Dynamics to Increase Reach of Evidence Based Addiction and Mental Health Care
  Enrolling By Invitation · Palo Alto Veterans Institute for Research · Palo Alto, California
• A Study Comparing Oral Buprenorphine and Injectable Buprenorphine for the Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder
  PHASE4 · Recruiting · VA Office of Research and Development · Tuscaloosa, Alabama
• Office-based Methadone Versus Buprenorphine to Address Retention in Medication for Opioid Use Disorder Treatment.
  PHASE4 · Recruiting · Yale University · Oakland, California
• Standard Versus High Dose ED-Initiated Buprenorphine Induction
  PHASE3 · Recruiting · Yale University · Oakland, California