New DEA Rules for Opioid Maintenance Therapy
On December 29, 2022 the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 was passed by Congress which eliminated the need for an “X number” or “X waiver” to prescribe buprenorphine.
Per the DEA website “Going forward, all prescriptions for buprenorphine only require a standard DEA registration number… There are no longer any limits or patient caps on the number of patients a prescriber may treat for opioid use disorder with buprenorphine… The Act does not impact existing state laws or regulations that may be applicable.”
The state laws the DEA is referring to will likely impact the need to for an in person evaluation after the pandemic emergency is over. Additionally, “the Act also introduced new training requirements for all prescribers. These requirements will not go into effect until June 21, 2023. The DEA and SAMHSA are actively working to provide further guidance and DEA will follow up with additional information on these requirements shortly.”
However, the new training requirements to be announced do not require do not impact a prescribers ability, with a DEA license, to prescribe buprenorphine. Modyfi will be providing guidance and training to any providers interested in prescribing buprenorphine through our platform. We will implement group medical appointments with breakout sessions for anyone first starting on buprenorphine. Maintenance can be handled individually or in group sessions.
