What is an Outpatient Medication Assisted Program

Outpatient Office Based Medication Assisted Program

There are usually two categories that drug and alcohol treatment programs fall under, inpatient rehabilitation and outpatient rehabilitation. Each type of program has different features, and the benefits of each may or may not address your current situation. Therefore, it is essential that both our patients and their families understand the different types of options.

Live Well Integrative Medicine and its staff are dedicated to patient-centered care. Therefore, your autonomy and ability to weigh your options and understand where you fall on the treatment continuum are important.

During our triage process, our healthcare providers will assess you. Then, in partnership with the team, you and the provider will determine if you qualify for an inpatient or outpatient setting. The American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) has built criteria and a continuum for Medication Assisted Treatment. The Outpatient Officed Based Medication Assisted Treatment option falls under Level 1 intensity and is less restrictive than the inpatient setting. This means that your treatment at Live Well Integrative Medicine will be less than 10 hours a week during the initial phase of your treatment and move to biweekly, then monthly, depending on your phase of care. This allows you to balance your work, home life, and health without the requirement of residing in a facility.

Benefits of Outpatient Services

• You can maintain a personal life outside of treatment

• You have the benefit of living at home in your own environment while seeking treatment

• You can dictate how your therapy sessions transpire, which reserves your autonomy

• You can build a supportive network with individual therapy sessions and engagement in self-help and support groups

• Improved accessibility to care with the flexibility of self-scheduling sessions

• Decreased cost of care due to our office-based Medication Assisted Program being cheaper than an inpatient setting.

What to expect on arrival for treatment

Step1

Step 2

Arrive at Live Well Integrative Medicine

This first step includes a comprehensive assessment of health care needs including; physiological, psychological, socioeconomic, emotional, and spiritual needs, and a complete history of substance use.
Our onsite licensed counselor and health care provider will complete a comprehensive assessment of your current status and illegibility for our Office-Based Medication Assisted Program with Suboxone (Buprenorphine/Naloxone)
The assessment will include initial drug testing required for every program and lab testing dependent upon your current health and wellness status. In addition, these labs will include a urine pregnancy test (a requirement for every female patient of childbearing age per state regulations).
The health care provider may deem it necessary to complete Baseline labs consisting of serum electrolytes, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), and creatinine, complete blood count (CBC) with differential and platelet count, liver function tests, and lipid profile as this may aid in the determination of your eligibility for Suboxone (Buprenorphine/Naloxone).
Due to the sensitivity of immunity in specific populations, the health care provider will ask you questions regarding any infectious diseases, particularly your HIV, Hep B, Hep C, Syphilis, and Tuberculosis status.
Depending on your intrinsic risk factors from this comprehensive evaluation, the team will determine if you meet the continuum criteria for office-based outpatient Medication Assisted Treatment or inpatient treatment options.

Step 2

Introducing you to Medication Assisted

In this step, you will return to the office 1-2 days to discuss your initial assessment outcome.
At this visit, if you qualify for our Office-Based Outpatient Medication Assisted Treatment Program ,we will discuss the treatment plan and treatment goals that are tailored to your personal needs
At this visit, depending on your current withdrawal symptoms and the last dose of the drug or drugs you were or are taking; we will discuss the initial dosing and the expected induction process.
Note that if you have already met the induction phase and are already being treated with Suboxone (Buprenorphine/Naloxone), this phase may differ for you.
In this step, we will discuss our office policy, your rights, and responsibilities as our patient and verify informed consent.

Step 3

Step 2

Step 3

Induction or beginning of our Medication Assisted Treatment Program

In this step, you will begin your medication.
In the initial phase of treatment, depending on your withdrawal symptoms you will meet with the health care provider twice a week or weekly.
In this step, you will meet with the counselor weekly for a weekly therapy session
In this step, you will have weekly urine drug screens or biweekly dependent on your scheduled visits
In this step, you will avoid the use of illicit and or illegal substance as well as alcohol
In this step, you will be introduced to several self-help groups and outpatient resources that are tailored toward your needs and you may choose to participate in these depending on your preferences
This step may take 4-6 weeks and the time frame is unique to everyone

Step 4

Disclaimer

Step 3

Intermediate Maintenance Phase

This step includes biweekly visits with your healthcare provider
In this visit, as with every visit of Medication Assisted Treatment, the healthcare provider will discuss your status and determine the dosing of Suboxone (Buprenorphine/Naloxone)
In this step, you will continue to meet with our on-site counselor for your therapy session once a week
In this step, urine drug screening may be weekly or biweekly
In this step, you will continue to avoid the use of illicit and or illegal drugs as well as alcohol

Step 5

Disclaimer

Recovery and Maintenance Phase

In this step, you can expect monthly visits with the provider
In this step, you will continue to have weekly therapy sessions with our on-site counselor
In this step, urine and drug testing will be done monthly
There is no actual time frame for the beginning and end of Medication Assisted Treatment. Some people are on Suboxone (Buprenorphine/Naloxone) for a short period, while others may need to be on Medication Assisted Treatment for the rest of their lives.
In this step, as in all other steps, you will continue to avoid illicit/illegal drugs as well as alcohol.

Disclaimer

It is important to remember that these steps may result in slightly different time frames based on your initial needs. You should expect an evaluation of the current Medication Assisted Treatment and your status at each visit. We are here to support your recovery process. Urine drug testing is not for punitive measures. It is used to determine your safety, your status, and the need for redosing or to determine whether to graduate to another step in the program, maintain the step you are currently in, or move into a previous step. The step-by-step process is streamlined to make your Medication Assisted Treatment safe and is based on evidence-based practices.