Your first Suboxone patient visit in primary care

After completing a 24 hour Buprenorphine Waiver course, you are ready to see your first patient.

As a primary care provider, it is very likely that you already have patients in your practice who are being maintained on Suboxone. This is an easy place to start: scheduling a few Suboxone visits per week, beginning with patients that you already know. Your current patients will be grateful that you are able to provide complete primary care, including treatment for opiate use disorder.

When choosing your first patients, keep in mind protective factors that serve as indicators of continued sobriety: full-time employment, living in a sober household, compliance with office policy and no missed appointments. Another protective factor is a urine drug test negative for illicit substances during the first appointment for Suboxone treatment. A patient with these indicators in place has a high liklihood of success, which makes for a good place to start.

During the first year of integrating Suboxone prescribing with your primary care practice, it may be best to focus on stable patients, who are seeking a local prescriber. Once you and your office staff are familiar with medication assisted treatment, you can then decide if you want to expand your practice to initiating Suboxone therapy for patients who would like to begin medication assisted treatment.

Finally, you may decide that you are happy with simply maintaining stable patients who already know you as a primary care prescriber. Patients who are struggling to maintain sobriety, and require more resources than offered by your office, can be guided to a higher level of care by office staff. Keep in mind that you are providing a critical service by prescribing Suboxone to your stable primary care patients. Additionally, as your primary care patients transition to suboxone theray at your practice, a space will then open up for more complicated patients at treatment program that they are leaving.