USA. Prescribing Buprenorphine By Telehealth: Lessons From San Francisco Amidst A Changing Regulatory Landscape
USA. Prescribing Buprenorphine By Telehealth: Lessons From San Francisco Amidst A Changing Regulatory Landscape
As he endured another night experiencing homelessness in San Francisco, California, “John” was feeling the symptoms of opioid withdrawal, with chills, vomiting, and body aches. These symptoms were all too familiar as he had become accustomed to the cycling in and out of withdrawal after years of using opioids, first heroin and, more recently, fentanyl.
On this night, he was just starting to think about using a small amount of fentanyl to relieve his symptoms when he was approached by a street outreach team from Code Tenderloin, a community-based organization headquartered in the city’s epicenter for drug overdoses. Although nearly midnight, the team members, known as “Night Navigators,” connected him via telephone to the San Francisco Department of Public Health’s (SFDPH) telehealth buprenorphine program, where he spoke with a clinician who prescribed him the medication and connected him with follow-up care. (Health Affairs, USA, 04.03.2025)
https://www.healthaffairs.org/content/forefront/prescribing-buprenorphine-telehealth-lessons-san-francisco-amidst-changing-regulatory