News from the Node

Members of the Northeast Node research team recently published a protocol and methodology paper on CTN-0116: Implementing a Pharmacist-integrated Collaborative Model of Medication Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder (PharmICO).

The article describes the study’s impetus and design considerations for launching the four-site clinical trial in the CTN.

It was published in Addiction Science and Clinical Practice and is open access; it can be read and shared here and you can read the abstract below.

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On Friday, September 29, 2023, the Northeast Node and the New England Opioid Response Network together present a regional summit: Addressing the Intersection of Pain Management and Opioid Use: Integrating Care to Promote Healthy Outcomes.

The full-day training will explore the clinical intersection of pain and opioid use, discuss the science behind both, and use an interactive approach to considering team-based integrated treatments in different settings.

For more information, including the agenda and continuing education, please visit the Summit’s website.

A recently completed CTN study, CTN-0084-A2: Harnessing Digital Health to Understand Clinical Trajectories of Opioid Use Disorder (D-TECT), sought to determine whether it was feasible to collect multiple streams of passive sensing data from patients in medication treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD).

Passive sensing allows researchers to capture a robust array of data points to create a “digital phenotype” for each patient, which has potential implications for more individualized interventions to improve treatment for OUD. This study explored the feasibility of collecting multiple data points, including ecological momentary assessment (EMA), passive sensor data, and social media data.

Findings indicate that patients in treatment for OUD were able and willing to provide these various datapoints, indicating that a “digital phenotype” may be a viable research option for future work.

The full article can be found here and the abstract is available below.

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Teams at the Northeast Node and University of New Hampshire Citizen’s Health Initiative have published findings from a recent training program to explore the feasibility of training clinics to collect performance data and initiate Quality Improvement (QI) practice change cycles alongside clinic participation in a Project ECHO virtual collaborative for medication treatment of opioid use disorder (MOUD).

The article, published in the Journal Addiction Science & Clinical Practice, reports on the engagement of five New Hampshire primary care or mental health clinics in monitoring their own performance regarding OUD screening, buprenorphine initiation and retention, and naloxone overdose reversal device access best practices, and then using performance data to inform QI change cycles.

All five clinics met the criteria for engagement, submitted at least one month of performance data, and completed at least one QI initiative. Results suggest that training clinics to monitor their performance and base QI initiatives on clinic-derived data has the potential to impact best practice for MOUD.

Click below to read the article:

Augmenting project ECHO for opioid use disorder with data-informed quality improvement

November 17, 2022
12-1pm ET

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A recently published study in the CTN found that of different types of web-based platforms, dating apps may be most effective for advertising for free HIV test kits.

The study advertised for free at-home HIV testing on social media platforms, informational websites, and dating apps, and found that dating apps lead to the most kits ordered.

The full article can be found here, and the abstract is below.

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Research Assistant II

The primary purpose of this position is to implement activities for a National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)-funded study investigating a prevention strategy for opioid use disorder in primary care settings. This position is based at two primary care practices in Manchester and Bedford, NH.

For more information

Faculty Position in Application of Digital Health to The Treatment of Substance Use Disorders And/or Related Fields

The Department of Biomedical Data Science at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth (Geisel) seeks an outstanding individual to join our faculty within the Center for Technology and Behavioral Health (CTBH). CTBH is an interdisciplinary research group whose mission is to inform the optimal development, scientific evaluation, and sustainable implementation of digital therapeutics for behavioral health. CTBH is a designated “Center of Excellence” by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH).

For more information

Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released provisional data showing there were 107,622 overdose deaths in 2021, the highest annual death toll on record from drug overdose fatalities, and a 15% increase from the year prior.

“We lost over 107,000 individuals to drug overdoses in 2021, 295 individuals each day. It’s time to double down our efforts to address this epidemic, including prevention, treatment, recovery services and awareness about the risks of fentanyl,” shared Jessica Hulsey, Executive Director of the Addiction Policy Forum.

According to the National Center for Health Statistics, fentanyl was involved in the most overdose deaths in 2021.

To help, you can:

1. Learn about the dangers of fentanyl.

Learn more about fentanyl from trusted sources like the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

2. Learn how to administer naloxone.

Learn more about how you can obtain and administer naloxone through the Naloxone Facts awareness campaign.

For more information

The purpose of the TOR program is to assist in addressing the overdose crisis in Tribal communities by increasing access to FDA-approved medications for the treatment of opioid use disorder (MOUD), and supporting the continuum of prevention, harm reduction, treatment, and recovery support services for opioid use disorder (OUD) and co-occurring substance use disorders. The TOR program also supports the full continuum of prevention, harm reduction, treatment and recovery support services for stimulant misuse and use disorders, including for cocaine and methamphetamine.

Eligibility is limited to federally recognized American Indian or Alaska Native Tribe or tribal organizations. Tribes and tribal organizations may apply individually, as a consortium, or in partnership with an Urban Indian Organizations.

For more information