PHILADELPHIA–Mayor Kenney was joined by Commissioners from the Department of Health and Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbilities Services and representatives from Jefferson Health, Temple Health, Einstein Healthcare Network, and Penn Medicine to announce a new citywide commitment to getting primary care physicians the necessary waiver and training to prescribe buprenorphine–the medication that helps people stop using heroin and other opioid drugs–in their normal primary care offices. The City has set an ambitious goal not replicated anywhere else in the United States calling for 1,300 physicians being able to prescribe buprenorphine, and today’s announcement of nearly 400 expected waivered and trained doctors by the end of 2020 is a significant step in the right direction. The Health Department also announced the establishment of a new 24/7 hotline for newly waivered healthcare providers to receive free clinical consultation on the use of buprenorphine.
Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley said, “These commitments by these major health systems represent a fundamental and needed change in the way that the mainstream medical care system treats people who are addicted to opioids. We know of no other health system in the nation that has committed to doing this, and that we have four major health systems coming together to make these commitments shows how seriously this city is taking the opioid crisis.”
Studies have shown that treatment with medication, like buprenorphine (AKA Suboxone), reduces deaths by approximately 50%. As of the 1st quarter of 2019, approximately 8,000 patients were treated with buprenorphine and approximately 5,000 patients were treated with methadone city-wide. The City has set an ambitious target to double the number of patients treated with buprenorphine in the next three years (by the 4th quarter of 2022). This would require hundreds more medical providers receiving the specialized training and obtaining waivers to prescribe buprenorphine, which is why today’s announcement is so momentous.
“Primary care providers have close relationships with their patients and are in the best position to expand access to buprenorphine,” said Edmund Pribitkin, Executive Vice President at Jefferson Health. “We stand committed to provide training for our primary care providers for this effective treatment option and advancing this critical initiative for the health of our region.”
Since 2017, City government and other providers have expanded access to buprenorphine, in:
- Specialized drug treatment programs
- City’s jail
- Mobile vans in hardest hit neighborhoods
- Eight health centers operated by the health department
- FQHCs and other primary care settings
Today’s commitments are as follows:
- Jefferson Health has committed to having all 319 of its employed primary care providers receive the specialized training and the waiver by the end of 2020. Approximately 100 of those primary care providers are in Philadelphia.
- Temple University Hospital has committed to having approximately 110 primary care physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants receive the waiver.
- Einstein Healthcare Network has committed to having all 33 of its primary care physicians waivered by the end of 2020.
- Penn Medicine has committed to 100% of primary care practitioners being waivered and trained. Approximately 70 are anticipated by the end of 2020.
- The Philadelphia Department of Public Health will have all 70 of its adult primary care physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants who work in its health centers waivered by the end of 2020.