Objective
To model the potential impact of mobile methadone unit implementation in Louisiana on net medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) treatment rates.
Data sources/study setting
We use secondary Louisiana Medicaid claims data between 2020 and 2021.
Study design
We simulate the impact of mobile methadone units in Louisiana using two approaches: (1) a "Poisson regression approach," which predicts the number of opioid use disorder (OUD) patients that might use methadone at mobile locations based on the underlying association between methadone use and proximity to a brick-and-mortar methadone clinic; (2) a "policy approach," which leverages local treatment uptake rates following the expansion of methadone coverage to Louisiana Medicaid beneficiaries in 2020 to estimate methadone use following mobile unit implementation. Models were run in cases where mobile methadone operators could choose their operation locations freely and in a separate instance where they were restricted to serving rural locations.
Citation:
Gibbons JB, Li W, Stuart EA, Saloner B. Simulated impact of mobile opioid treatment program units on increasing access to methadone for opioid use disorder. Health Services Research. 2024 Jan. DOI: 10.1111/1475-6773.14271. PMID: 38191857.
