Telehealth Approaches to Improve Opioid Use Care in Pregnancy

Although pharmacotherapy is the mainstay of treatment for opioid use disorder, the US faces a shortage of qualified pharmacotherapy providers, even in high-need areas. Telemedicine is a promising method of increasing the availability of opioid use disorder treatments, but several barriers must first be addressed before implementation. This article presents a case study of using telemedicine to provide pharmacotherapy in pregnancy, examines the barriers to providing pharmacotherapy via telemedicine, and proposes solutions to overcome these barriers.