PainRelief.com Interview with:
Lindsey Hammerslag, Ph.D.
Assistant Research Professor
Division of Biomedical Informatics
University of Kentucky
Lexington, KY 40536

PainRelief.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: This study was designed to examine whether COVID-related changes to buprenorphine prescribing policies, which allowed the use of telehealth during treatment initiation, were associated with benefits for people with opioid use disorder. There’s a push to return to normalcy, with some COVID-related policies being rolled back during the unwinding, and we felt that it was important to make sure that we could provide the evidence policy makers need to make good decisions for patients.