Buprenorphine and HIV primary care: Report of a Forum for Collaborative HIV Research workshop

On 3-4 June 2004, in Washington, DC, the Forum for Collaborative HIV Research convened experts from academia, community and private practices, US government agencies, and industry to develop recommendations for increased uptake of buprenorphine integrated into human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) primary care, with special emphasis on Ryan White CARE Act-funded programs. Workshop participants evaluated knowledge gaps requiring research; barriers to integration at the patient, clinic, and systems level; policy and financing issues; and program impacts. Recommendations were developed for training, including medical school and post-medical school training of clinical teams as well as training of patients; for improving programs and services, including integration of opioid dependence and HIV infection into chronic disease models, providing flexible access to core and support services, and monitoring and evaluation of programs; for changes in policy supportive of program and services goals; for financing buprenorphine treatment by use of existing models of integrated treatment and merging funding streams at the local level; and for addressing research gaps, including cost-effectiveness research.