Read our 2017 Treatment for OUD Report Here.

Join our conversation

In person

If you are unable to join with the below options, there will be a physical space reserved in the Foundation for Health Care Quality’s Seattle office to participate in the virtual meeting at the below address:

705 2nd Ave
Suite 410
Seattle, WA 98104

Online

Teams Meeting Link.
Meeting ID: 250 936 576 146
Passcode: rNjNpL

Background

Opioid use disorder continues to be prevalent in Washington State, with a 10% increase from 2018 to 2019 and 35% for both 2020 and 2021 over the prior year. The Bree Collaborative developed guidelines in 2017, outlining full or partial opioid agonists for treatment (as opposed to treatment without medication). As the number of opioid overdose death rate has continued to climb, the Bree Collaborative members decided to revisit the previous guidelines and report. In the time since the last report, the X waiver requirement has been removed, and the increase in fentanyl in Washington’s drug supply has complicated opioid overdose response. A significant number of methamphetamine overdoses involve opioids, and most people who use drugs use multiple substances. According to the Washington DOH, the stimulant-related overdose death rate has increased 388%. As a result, the response to opioid use and overdose should address strategies that are associated with many drugs not just opioids. Fentanyl and analogues carry a higher overdose risk than other opioids; in 2022, a survey by the UW’s Addiction, Drug & Alcohol Institute (ADAI) found that 18% of respondents had used fentanyl within the past 3 months. There is a need for guidance for providers to improve confidence and competence and for payors on successful and safe initiation, stabilization, and titration of individuals on medication for opioid use disorder in the age of fentanyl with a focus on populations that are or have been underserved.

Past Meeting Materials

Read our Charter.

Workgroup Members