The Authors’ Own Words: Description and outcomes of a buprenorphine maintenance treatment program integrated within Prevention Point Philadelphia, an urban syringe exchange

The Authors’ Own Words:

We ask authors to describe their impressions regarding the implications of their accepted work, how their findings will change practice, and what is noteworthy about the work.

Description and outcomes of a buprenorphine maintenance treatment program integrated within Prevention Point Philadelphia, an urban syringe exchange

Marcus A. Bachhuber MA , MD, MSHP; Cole Thompson MD; Ann Prybylowski MD; José Benitez MSW; Silvana Mazzella MA; & David Barclay MD

Substance Abuse Vol. 39, Iss. 2, 2018

“As heroin use continues to increase in the United States, expanding access to effective medication treatments is urgently needed. Syringe exchange programs (SEPs) provide vital harm reduction services to people who use heroin. While they have not traditionally provided treatment, they are uniquely positioned to do so. In a buprenorphine maintenance program integrated within Prevention Point Philadelphia, an urban SEP, we found that retention in buprenorphine maintenance treatment was similar to retention in other settings. While further research is needed to more fully characterize outcomes in SEPs versus other settings, our findings suggest that buprenorphine maintenance treatment fully integrated within an SEP is possible and may be one venue for future expansion of buprenorphine treatment.”