New fees, updated guidelines support treatment of opioid use disorder

With growing concerns about increasing levels of opioid addiction, two new set of guidelines have been released to better support front line health care providers, along with a number of new physician fees. Both guidelines are supplementary to the Guideline for the Clinical Management of Opioid Use Disorder released by the BC Centre for Substance Use last year.

Guidelines for primary care

Opioid Use Disorder - Diagnosis and Management in Primary Care presents recommendations for the diagnosis and management  induction and maintenance of  Suboxone opioid agonist treatment (OAT) for adults and youth over 12 years of age. It was developed by the Guidelines and Protocols Advisory Committee (GPAC), made up of representatives of Doctors of BC and the BC government, and the BC Centre for Substance Use.  

Treating Opioid Use During Pregnancy provides treatment recommendations and care principles for pregnant women with opioid addition. The guideline recommends a comprehensive integrated care plan for pregnant women that goes beyond substance-focused approaches and includes collaboration with relevant supports and resources that address patients’ social determinants of health, such as adequate nutrition, safe housing, and other psychosocial supports.  To view the document created by the BC Centre for Substance use, click here.

New physician fees

On June 1st, two new fees came into effect to compensate physicians for treatment of patients with opioid use disorder. Changes include: compensation for physicians for the time it takes to do a full patient assessment and for interactions with patients during the first three days OAT induction for opioid use disorder. Information on the new fees can be found here.

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