A Multi-site Intervention to Expand Hospital Based OUD Treatment Provision

April 27, 2026 updated by: University of Colorado, Denver

In Hospital Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder: Clinician Perspectives and Current Practices

The investigators implemented a multi-site hospital-based opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment intervention across 12 hospitals in Colorado to address an OUD treatment gap among hospitalized adults with OUD.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

The investigators implemented a multi-site hospital-based opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment intervention across 12 hospitals in Colorado to address an OUD treatment gap among hospitalized adults with OUD. The intervention included nurse driven universal screening for unhealthy substance use with a social work referral for a brief intervention when indicted, electronic health record-embedded protocols to assess for opioid withdrawal and to direct buprenorphine initiation, methadone orders for opioid withdrawal symptoms, and embedded links for post discharge addiction treatment referral. It also included clinician education and nursing education via video conference or in-person lectures. The intervention was supported by the health system Chief Medical Officer and involved subject matters expertise and representation from nursing leaders, social work leaders, and hospital medicine leaders. Outcomes assess include a pre/post implementation assessment of 1) change in buprenorphine prescribed in hospital and 2) discharge, 3) change in naloxone prescribed, 4) change in hospital based methadone prescribing, and 5) change in average clinical opioid withdrawal scale (COWS) score. investigators also assessed a pre/post survey of hospitalists physicians and advanced practice providers to assess their perception of hospital based OUD treatment provision.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

400

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Colorado
      • Aurora, Colorado, United States, 80045
        • University of Colorado Anschutz Medicl Campus

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Physicians, advanced practice providers, social workers, and nurses who work at any affiliated hospitals

Exclusion Criteria:

  • none

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: OUD intervention
Participants received education on the diagnosis and management of OUD, have access to protocols to walk them through assessment of OUD using Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, fifth Edition (DSM)-5, COWS score to calculate severity of opioid withdrawal, buprenorphine or methadone initiation with pre-populated orders, and clickable links for OUD treatment referral post discharge.
Behavioral: OUD treatment intervention
Participants received education on the diagnosis and management of OUD, have access to protocols to walk them through assessment of OUD using Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, fifth Edition (DSM)-5, COWS score to calculate severity of opioid withdrawal, buprenorphine or methadone initiation with pre-populated orders, and clickable links for OUD treatment referral post discharge.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in buprenorphine prescribing at hospital discharge
Time Frame: Calculate monthly prescribing rates over a three year time frame (including pre and post implementation) to assess for change
Change in rate of buprenorphine prescribing at hospital discharge among patients with OUD before and after intervention implementation
Calculate monthly prescribing rates over a three year time frame (including pre and post implementation) to assess for change

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in rates of methadone prescribing during hospitalization
Time Frame: Calculate monthly prescribing rates over a three year time frame (including pre and post implementation) to assess for change
Change in rate of in hospital methadone prescribing among patients with OUD before and after intervention implementation
Calculate monthly prescribing rates over a three year time frame (including pre and post implementation) to assess for change

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in average (mean) COWS score over time
Time Frame: Calculate mean monthly COWS scores over a three year time frame (including pre and post implementation) to assess for change
Change in rate of in mean COWS score among patients with OUD before and after intervention implementation
Calculate mean monthly COWS scores over a three year time frame (including pre and post implementation) to assess for change
Change in naloxone prescribing at hospital discharge
Time Frame: Calculate monthly prescribing rates over a three year time frame (including pre and post implementation) to assess for change
Change in rate of naloxone prescribing at hospital discharge among patients with OUD before and after intervention implementation
Calculate monthly prescribing rates over a three year time frame (including pre and post implementation) to assess for change

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Colorado, Denver

Collaborators

National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Susan L Calcaterra, MD, University of Colorado, Denver

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

January 18, 2023

Primary Completion (Actual)

April 30, 2024

Study Completion (Actual)

May 1, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

February 20, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 26, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

March 4, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

May 1, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 27, 2026

Last Verified

March 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 22-0789
  • K08DA049905 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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