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The Impact Of Regulatory Changes On The Providers Of Treatment For Opioid Dependence, Paul Aaron Fisher

Wayne State University Dissertations

In 2000, changes in federal law allowed physicians to receive waivers to use narcotic medications, such as buprenorphine, for treatment of opioid dependence. As of 2006, physicians have been allowed to treat up to 100 patients after spending one year at a 30-patient limit. Physicians may choose to discontinue use of buprenorphine after the patient has successfully discontinued use of the substance of abuse ("withdrawal"), or physicians can keep patients on buprenorphine indefinitely ("maintenance"). The model in this dissertation assumes that demand for treatment of opioid dependence is exogenous but that demand for maintenance treatment can be induced by the …