"As the number of people with OUD surges, the need for treatment is far outstripping the current capacity to deliver it. A host of systemic barriers prevent people from accessing those medications. For example, when OUD treatment delivery settings are separate from the rest of medical care, the surrounding regulatory and legal requirements can impose hard-to overcome barriers on accessing medication-based treatment for OUD. The current system of care delivery for OUD is fragmented and inequitable, so a coordinated response will be required to overcome the inertia that has allowed the crisis to spiral to this extent."
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Health and Medicine Division; Board on Health Sciences Policy; Committee on Medication-Assisted Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder; Mancher M, Leshner AI, editors. Medications for Opioid Use Disorder Save Lives. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); March 30, 2019.
