Geographical Distribution of Office Based Opioid Treatment with Buprenorphine in Ohio

Objectives: The geographical distribution of Ohio physicians listed on the Buprenorphine Treatment and Physician Locator published by SAMHSA was analyzed to evaluate availability and accessibility from the patient perspective and the relationship between supply of and demand for services at the county level.

Methods: 693 physicians listed on the Buprenorphine Treatment Physician Locator were contacted by telephone during February/ March 2016 to determine whether the physicians were accessible by telephone and provided OBOT with buprenorphine. The Buprenorphine Treatment Physician Locator allows individuals to search by city, state, or zip code, and provides the physician’s name, address, and phone/fax numbers to facilitate access to treatment.

Results: OBOT using buprenorphine services vary greatly across Ohio. There are a net total listed waivered physicians of 663. 24.6% were unable to be reached by phone despite repeated attempts. 15.2% indicated buprenorphine services were not provided. 60.2% indicated that buprenorphine services were provided. The distribution of DATA 2000 waivered physicians by county was not correlated to unintentional overdose drug overdose rates (r=0.25). 42.0% of counties, including nine with unintentional drug overdose rates over the state mean, had no DATA 2000 waivered physicians confirmed by the survey.

Conclusions: The Buprenorphine Treatment Physician Locator resource overstates the availability and accessibility of OBOT using buprenorphine. Only a subset of listed physicians provides services and these physicians are maldistributed geographically.