Most Americans Don’t Know Primary Care Physicians Can Prescribe Addiction Treatment

Results from a national survey indicate that many Americans, 61%, are unaware that primary care physicians can prescribe medications for opioid use disorder, and 13% incorrectly believed that they could not.

The survey, funded by NIH, also found that 82% of the people who reported ever misusing prescription or illicit opioids expressed comfort in going to their primary care physicians for medications for opioid use disorder. Among those who had not misused opioids, a majority, 74%, reported they would be comfortable referring their loved ones to primary care for these medications.

Primary care physicians can prescribe medications for opioid use disorder.

Photo:  Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock

Notably, Black American respondents were most likely to incorrectly believe they could not receive medications for opioid use disorder via primary care, pointing to an important disparity in information that may further impede access to treatment.

The findings suggest there is an important opportunity to increase awareness of these treatments and how to access them—using efforts that employ culturally specific strategies to reach different groups. Decades of research have shown the overwhelming benefit of existing medications for opioid use disorder, such as buprenorphine and methadone.

“Primary care is often people’s first point of contact in the health care system and can serve as a crucial setting to talk about addiction and receive lifesaving medications,” said NIDA Director Dr. Nora Volkow. “We need to provide education and support so that patients feel empowered to seek help from their primary care physician, and their doctors feel prepared to help them.”

Studies estimate that fewer than 2,500 physicians specialize in addiction medicine in the U.S. With approximately 209,000 primary care physicians in the U.S., channeling addiction treatment through primary care could have a significant public health impact.

Researchers at Brown University hypothesized that public health factors may impede access to these medications. They formulated survey questions on people’s awareness of and comfort around opioid use disorder treatment in primary care.

In collaboration with NIDA, the researchers added these questions to a survey conducted in English and Spanish by the Justice Community Opioid Innovation Network (JCOIN), led by NIDA and supported through The NIH Helping to End Addiction Long-term Initiative, or NIH HEAL Initiative. JCOIN researchers administered the survey in June 2023, targeting a nationally representative sample of adults ages 18 and older.

Published in JAMA Network Open, the study was supported by NIDA, with additional funding from NIGMS.