Why Is It Sometimes Hard to Find a Suboxone Doctor? The 100 Patient Limit
The DATA 2000 Act made it possible for doctors to treat opiate addiction with controlled substances from clinics and private offices. Office based treatment with Suboxone is convenient and perfectly suited to the needs and wants of many considering the recovery process, but frustratingly, it is not always easy to find a doctor capable of prescribing Suboxone in your area. Read on to learn why not all doctors can prescribe this medication and to find out how to find a doctor that can!
Not just any doctor can prescribe Suboxone. In order for a doctor to prescribe Suboxone they must receive a special license to do so and those doctors that qualify for this license may only prescribe Suboxone to a maximum of 100 patients.
Doctors who can refer patients to other appropriate addiction treatment programs for adjunct support can treat up to 100 patients at any one time – those that cannot are limited to 30 patients at any one time.
These limitations reduce the available pool of physicians capable of taking on new Suboxone patients, and this can make it sometimes difficult to find a doctor in your area.
To qualify for this license, doctors must meet one or more of the following qualifications:1
- Have a specialty in addiction medicine
- The doctor has received at least 8 hours of training in the management of opioid addicted patients
- The physician has participated in clinical trials leading to the approval of a narcotic medication
- The physician has other experience that leads him or her competent to treat opiate addicted patients
References
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