Population characteristics and follow-up rates of a novel emergency buprenorphine initiation and referral program
By: Joshua Lynch, DO; Arianna Hughes, BS; Susan Burnett, MS; Emily Payne, MSPH, & Brian Clemency, DO.
The Medication for Addiction Treatment and Electronic Referrals (MATTERS) network is a novel statewide referral network in New York that originated in late 2017 in Erie County, NY [1]. Erie County is a highly populated, racially and ethnically diverse county located in Western NY. MATTERS originated as a public health response to the opioid epidemic and operates through ED-initiated buprenorphine treatment to provide referrals to community-based care. As a part of this referral process, the MATTERS network gathers baseline demographics, medical history, and past substance use and treatment data from all patients at the time of referral. We sought to determine what, if any, factors were associated with patient attendance at their first outpatient clinic appointment after referral…