Frustrated about barriers to opioid treatment for your clients in rural Vermont? Distance and travel costs to an opioid treatment program (OTP) are two of the most common reasons people stop coming for treatment. Vermont, one of the most rural US states has an opioid treatment system composed of hubs – OTPs – in larger communities and spokes – office-based opioid agonist treatment (OBOTs) – located in many smaller towns. Treatment at hubs requires daily dosing at first. This presentation details the use of secure dispensers for methadone and buprenorphine combined with smartphone apps to ensure safe daily administration of the medications and reduce cost of travel, improve employment or family obligations and increase retention.

Learning Objectives:

Describe the barriers of time and distance and impediments to pro-social activities by having to come daily to an OTP

Explain the device’s application and utility and how the app works

Review the staff time and costs and users’ responses to a survey asking them to rate the use of the app and the device

Show retention rates with the app and devices compared to treatment as usual

Presenter

Dr. John Brooklyn graduated from Brown University Program in Medicine and is Board Certified in Family Medicine and Addiction Medicine. He is an Associate Clinical Professor on the UVMMC Family Medicine and Psychiatry faculty and has been involved with research of heroin, tobacco and cocaine use treatments at UVMMC since 1992, including multiple studies that led to the approval of buprenorphine for opioid users. He is the Medical Director of the Howard Center Chittenden Clinic Hub and the Baymark St. Albans Hub. He continues as a Family Physician at Community Health Centers of Burlington.

He has been a strong advocate for people with substance use disorders to be integrated into medical homes and conceived of the nationally recognized VT.Hub and Spoke Model to seamlessly treat opioid use disorders. He helped create CHARM, an integrated nationally recognized model to treat pregnant opioid users and their children. He is a national mentor for substance use disorder treatment and a trainer for students, residents and faculty members throughout the US. His interests remain primary care, interface of behavior and health, promotion of healthy lifestyles, preventative care, treatment of substance use disorders, mindfulness, and motivational interviewing. He is using technological solutions to increase access to opioid agonist treatment and directs the tele-monitoring project at the Chittenden Clinic.

Please register here: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_tuLtYFoxTfewYl1RnMfRXQ