Nationwide Service To Match Opioid-Dependent
(addicted) Patients with
Physicians Offering Private In-Office
Medical Treatment
- Patient advocacy group NAABT to
help addicted patients locate physicians
able to treat opioid dependence using
buprenorphine -
Farmington, CT (6 September
2006) - The non-profit patient
advocacy group NAABT, the National
Alliance of Advocates for
Buprenorphine Treatment (www.naabt.org),
is launching its
National Patient Physician Matching
System to connect people
who are addicted to opioids with doctors
able to provide medical
treatment with buprenorphine in the
privacy of the doctor’s
office. The free-of-charge matching
system is the latest extension
of the overall goal of NAABT, which
is to educate the public on
opioid dependence, buprenorphine treatment,
and the benefits
of treating addiction in a doctor’s
private office with prescriptions
medications, and appropriate psychosocial
therapy.
“Buprenorphine treatment is an
extremely effective
weapon in the fight against addiction,” said
Timothy Lepak,
President of NAABT. “Many of
the patients I speak with who
are now able to manage their addiction
with the help of
buprenorphine say that it has saved
their lives. Unfortunately,
despite the effectiveness of this treatment,
patient access to
buprenorphine treatment has suffered
because too few doctors
are certified to prescribe it, and
because currently there is a limit
of 30 patients per doctor. As a result,
many patients find
themselves on waiting lists when seeking
buprenorphine
treatment. Our new system allows patients
to simultaneously alert
numerous physicians of their need for
treatment, saving time and
hopefully quickening their access to
this valuable treatment.”
About the NAABT National
Patient/Physician
Matching System
Ideally, someone seeking buprenorphine
treatment
addiction would be able to call a doctor
and schedule
appointment. However, that is not always
the case,
seeking treatment may be put on waiting
lists either
there may not be enough physicians
certified in
because certified local physicians
may already have
30-patient limit. The NAABT National
Patient/Physician
System allows patients to register
anonymously
given geographical region, thereby
alerting physicians
area that they are seeking treatment.
Once an
the capacity to treat an additional
patient, the
Patient/Physician Matching System allows
the physician
contact that patient confidentially
by email to discuss
The patient registration process is
simple
completed in less than three minutes.
It consists
questions that helps appropriately
match patients
have the proper experience to help
them. All patient
confidential and resides on a secure
server; the
information required is an email address
for physician
For added confidentiality, the email
address is immediately
automatically converted into an ID#,
and that is
information made available to the physician.