Opioid Treatment Programs: New Data
Two recent reports from SAMHSA’s National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services (N-SSATS) provided data on the treatment facilities that use certain medications to treat opioid addiction.
The medications methadone and buprenorphine are used to treat addiction to heroin or other opiates, and they help the patient maintain sobriety.
However, only facilities with an OTP certified by SAMHSA’s Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) may administer these medications. N-SSATS gathered the following data about OTPs in the United States in 2008.
- In 2008, a total of 1,132 (8 percent) of all substance abuse treatment facilities were certified OTPs.
- Of the 1,132 OTPs, 1,044 (92 percent) offered outpatient treatment.
- On the survey date of March 31, 2008, there were 268,071 clients who received methadone and 4,280 clients who received buprenorphine in facilities with OTPs.
- There were 654 (58 percent) facilities with OTPs that provided substance abuse treatment services in a language other than English, either by a staff counselor or through an on-call interpreter; 498 (44 percent of all OTPs) provided these services by a staff counselor in Spanish.
Download Overview of Opioid Treatment Programs within the United States: 2008 for more details.
Another N-SSATS report examined similarities and differences between OTPs that provide methadone maintenance or buprenorphine maintenance.
Of OTPs that provided methadone maintenance and/or buprenorphine maintenance services, 52.4 percent served only clients in the maintenance program and 47.6 percent served clients in the maintenance program as well as other substance abuse clients.
“OTP Only” facilities were much more likely than “OTP Mixed” to offer methadone maintenance only—and not buprenorphine maintenance—and were much less likely to offer both. Only 2.2 percent of the “OTP Mixed” facilities offered buprenorphine maintenance without also offering methadone maintenance.
The greatest difference between “OTP Only” and “OTP Mixed” facilities is that “OTP Mixed” facilities more often provide a greater variety of treatment types and services, and more payment options, than “OTP Only” facilities.
For further information, download Similarities and Differences in Opioid Treatment Programs that Provide Methadone Maintenance or Buprenorphine Maintenance.