Utility of the group medical visit model for medication-assisted therapy

Abstract

Objective: To describe a group medical visit (GMV) model to facilitate medication assisted therapy. Design: Retrospective cohort analysis. Participants: Adult patients over 18 years of age desiring to receive medication assisted therapy (MAT). Methods: We describe the MAT GMV model including the clinical flow and group facilitation processes. The key elements for documentation and the medical portion of the visit are discussed. Using descriptive methods, we report the characteristics of our patient population entailing demographics, co-occurring mental health diagnosis, and medication use. Results: A total of 32 patients have participated in our MAT GMV over the past 2 years with nine active patients. Age range of participants is 20-65, with about half of them between 31and54; race andethnicity have been primarily White (87 percent)withequal distribution of male and female patients. Most patients had one or more co-occurring mental health disorder. The majority of patients had a prescription of buprenorphine-naloxone 8-2 mg twice a day (62 percent). Many of our patients had repeated co-occurring illegal substance use on urine testing resulting in program dismissal. Conclusions: MAT GMV is a straightforward and innovative way to deliver care to patients affected by opioid use disorder who are in a maintenance state. One of the biggest obstacles to successful participation in this program is repeated co-occurring illegal substance use. When remission is achieved via MAT GMV, provider efficiency is also increased and patients accomplish a sense of wellbeing via therapy, self-management, and medication assistance.