Clinical Review
Outpatient Buprenorphine Treatment for Opioid Dependence
Fed Pract. 2005 July;22(7):9
Author and Disclosure Information
Cynthia M.A. Geppert, MD; Gregory B. Toney, PharmD, BCPP; Doreen Siracusano, PA-C, MA, and Maleen Thorius, BC
Dr. Geppert is an attending psychiatrist and the chief of consultation for psychiatry and ethics, Dr. Toney is a psychiatric clinical pharmacy specialist, and Ms. Siracusano is a physician assistant, all at the New Mexico VA Health Care System (NMVAHCS), Albequerque. At the time of this writing, Ms. Thorius was a clinical nurse specialist at the NMVAHCS. She is now the director of the nursing behavioral health care line at the NMVAHCS. In addition, Dr. Geppert is certified in addiction medicine and is an assistant professor in the department of psychiatry at the University of New Mexico (UNM) School of Medicine, and Dr. Toney is a clinical assistant professor of pharmacy at the UNM College of Pharmacy, both in Albequerque.
Office-based pharmcotherapy for opioid dependence holds the potential to close critical gaps in access to care. These VA clinicians explain how to establish a buprenorphine clinic in an existing SUD program.