# Administrative Core

> **NIH NIH U54** · NORTHERN ARIZONA UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $293,101

## Abstract

During the COVID-19 Pandemic, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) temporarily
relaxed restrictions to best serve people in treatment for substance use disorders (SUD) during social
distancing mandates. Changes include allowing longer take home doses of methadone and buprenorphine
rather than coming to the clinic every day (for methadone) or weekly (for buprenorphine), and relaxed
restrictions on telehealth prescribing and treatment. These changes directly and indirectly impact the
approximately 14,500 substance use treatment programs in the United States, but the actual implementation of
the changes is poorly understood. The overarching goals of the proposed project, therefore, are to: (1)
document impacts of relaxed restrictions for telemedicine and mHealth; and (2) assess implementation of MAT
“take-homes” for people in SUD treatment in rural, underserved, and minority communities in Arizona in the
wake of COVID-19. To accomplish these goals, we propose to use Rapid Assessment, Response and
Evaluation (RARE) methods to complete the following specific aims: AIM 1: Identify barriers and facilitators
to successful implementation of telehealth and mHealth for opioid treatment in the context of COVID-
19 restrictions, temporary guideline changes, and “reopening stages”; and AIM 2: Assess
implementation of medication assisted treatment guideline changes and equity in access to “take-
homes” for people in rural and underserved populations. RARE is a well-established mixed-method
approach designed to gather data relevant to institutions and communities as they respond to crisis situations.
RARE assessment involves triangulation of multiple methods to conduct rigorous, locally responsive
assessment and evaluation within a much shorter timeframe than conventional research. We propose to use
RARE methods to collect information about online care delivery program barriers and facilitators, and to
provide local communities with information about local equity, acceptability, and feasibility of potential
telehealth and mHealth interventions. The knowledge to be gained from the proposed project will contribute to
understanding how DEA guideline changes during COVID-19 were implemented and experienced by
stakeholders, providers, and patients in treatment for opioid dependence. The proposed study is expected to
provide in-depth information about providers’ and patients’ experiences of the changes and inform the debate
at the national level about whether policy guideline changes should become permanent after COVID-19 risk
has lessened. There is a pressing need to document experiences of the new guidelines as policymakers
decide whether to make the guidelines permanent. In-depth investigation stands to fills key gaps in
understanding about whether and how increased access to medication-assisted treatment and more access to
treatment via telehealth and mHealth platforms can improve equity for people in rural and underserved areas
who have limited...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10250800
- **Project number:** 3U54MD012388-04S4
- **Recipient organization:** NORTHERN ARIZONA UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Julie A. Baldwin
- **Activity code:** U54 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $293,101
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2017-09-20 → 2022-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10250800

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10250800, Administrative Core (3U54MD012388-04S4). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10250800. Licensed CC0.

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