Re-thinking patient stability for methadone in opioid treatment during a global pandemic: Provider perspectives.

COVID-19 necessitated rapid changes in methadone take-home policies in opioid treatment programs (OTPs); these changes markedly contrast with existing, long-standing federal mandates on OTP rules about take-home methadone. OTP providers describe how these changes have affected clinical decision-making, equity in patient care, and workflow.

In this article from the CTN Pacific Northwest Node, the authors discuss implications for medical ethics and patient autonomy. They provide suggestions for future research that will examine the impact of COVID-19 on OTP treatment and its patients, as well as the effect of making methadone take-home policies patient-centered, all of which may foreshadow larger changes in the ways OTPs deliver their services.