Physicians registered with the Drug Enforcement Administration will no longer need to meet the X-waiver requirement to prescribe treatments such as buprenorphine for opioid use disorder (OUD), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently announced. HHS said it will publish updates to its Practice Guidelines for the Administration of Buprenorphine for Treating Opioid Use Disorder that expands access to medication-assisted treatment by exempting physicians from certain certification requirements.
The new policy potentially limits physicians to treating no more than 30 patients with buprenorphine for OUD at any single time. The HSS will make exceptions to this limit for hospital-based physicians, such as those working in emergency departments.
For more information on this policy, click here.
