SAMHSA Telehealth Rule Faces Obstacles From States, Payers

Though the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration codified the ability for patients in opioid treatment program to access medications through telehealth earlier this year, opioid treatment program executives say that the new regulation will not have an equal effect for patients across the country. SAMHSA set the federal floor and allowed OTPs to use telehealth for patient intake and induction to methadone and buprenorphine and gave significant flexibility for the use of audio-only telehealth to receive OTP services...