{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,29]],"date-time":"2026-09-29T16:37:04Z","timestamp":1790699824565,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":19,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,5]],"date-time":"2026-03-05T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1772668800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100011404","name":"Indivior","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100011404","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Public Health"],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Purpose<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>To evaluate the relationship between adherence to extended-release buprenorphine (BUP-XR; SUBLOCADE\u00ae) and reduced healthcare utilization and medical costs among patients with opioid use disorder (OUD).<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This retrospective analysis of United States insurance claims included patients aged \u226518\u202fyears who initiated BUP-XR between 3\/1\/2019\u201312\/31\/2022 (index\u202f=\u202fearliest BUP-XR claim) in the Merative\u2122 MarketScan\u00ae Commercial and Medicare Databases. Patients had continuous enrollment (medical, pharmacy, and behavioral benefits) for 12\u202fmonths before (baseline period) and 12\u202fmonths after (follow-up period) the index date. Proportion of days covered (PDC) was used to assess adherence to both BUP-XR and medications for OUD (MOUD) overall during the follow-up period. Patients were assigned to four mutually-exclusive groups: Group 1 (adherent [PDC\u202f\u2265\u202f0.8] to BUP-XR treatment); Group 2 (non-adherent to BUP-XR but adherent to overall MOUD); Group 3 (non-adherent to overall MOUD and primarily treated with BUP-XR); Group 4 (non-adherent to overall MOUD and not primarily treated with BUP-XR). Descriptive and adjusted analyses compared total non-MOUD costs in the follow-up period of Group 1 (reference) to the other groups.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Of 661 patients, 24.7% were adherent to BUP-XR (Group 1) during the 12-month follow-up period (Group 2: 17.1%, Group 3: 39.9%, Group 4: 18.3%). Compared to other groups, patients adherent to BUP-XR (Group 1) had the lowest rates of inpatient, emergency department, and detoxification visits. Adjusted non-MOUD costs during the 12-month follow-up period were $35,761 (Group 1), $50,778 (Group 2), $29,599 (Group 3), and $44,739 (Group 4). Despite both groups having PDC\u202f\u2265\u202f0.8, patients adherent to BUP-XR (Group 1) had $15,017 reduced costs per person compared to those adherent to overall MOUD (Group 2). The lower adjusted costs observed in Groups 3 and 4 reflected patient disengagement from care, characterized by substantially fewer outpatient services and higher acute care utilization.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Sustained BUP-XR adherence reduced costly medical utilization compared to non-adherence to BUP-XR while maintaining adherence to overall MOUD.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2026.1774410","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,5]],"date-time":"2026-03-05T15:46:36Z","timestamp":1772725596000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["Association between extended-release buprenorphine adherence and reduced healthcare costs among insured patients with opioid use disorder"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Michelle","family":"Jerry","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Research & Analytic Services, Merative","place":["Ann Arbor, MI, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Divya","family":"Venkat","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Center for Inclusion Health, Allegheny Health Network, RIvER Clinic","place":["Pittsburgh, PA, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Courtney","family":"Flynn","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Real-World Evidence, Medical Affairs, Indivior Inc.","place":["North Chesterfield, VA, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anh Thu","family":"Tran","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research & Analytic Services, Merative","place":["Ann Arbor, MI, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Maher","family":"Abdel-Sattar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Real-World Evidence, Medical Affairs, Indivior Inc.","place":["North Chesterfield, VA, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"William","family":"Mullen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Real-World Evidence, Medical Affairs, Indivior Inc.","place":["North Chesterfield, VA, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Colleen","family":"Lane","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Addiction Medicine, Corewell Health West","place":["Grand Rapids, MI, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,5]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"10","DOI":"10.1172\/JCI134708","article-title":"Medications for opioid use disorders: clinical and pharmacological considerations","volume":"130","author":"Volkow","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Clin Invest"},{"key":"ref2","year":"2025"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1099","DOI":"10.15585\/mmwr.mm7348a2","article-title":"Detection of illegally manufactured Fentanyls and Carfentanil in drug overdose deaths \u2014 United States, 2021\u20132024","volume":"73","author":"Tanz","year":"2024","journal-title":"MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep"},{"key":"ref4","author":"Ahmad","year":"2025"},{"key":"ref5","year":"2025"},{"key":"ref6","year":"2022"},{"key":"ref7","year":"2025"},{"key":"ref8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"108350","DOI":"10.1016\/j.drugalcdep.2020.108350","article-title":"The economic burden of opioid use disorder and fatal opioid overdose in the United States, 2017","volume":"218","author":"Florence","year":"2021","journal-title":"Drug Alcohol Depend"},{"key":"ref9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"427","DOI":"10.18553\/jmcp.2017.16265","article-title":"The economic burden of opioid abuse: updated findings","volume":"23","author":"Kirson","year":"2017","journal-title":"J Manag Care Spec Pharm"},{"key":"ref10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1188","DOI":"10.18553\/jmcp.2020.26.10.1188","article-title":"Direct costs of opioid abuse in an insured population in the United States","volume":"26","author":"White","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Manag Care Spec Pharm"},{"key":"ref11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"901","DOI":"10.1097\/MLR.0000000000000625","article-title":"The economic burden of prescription opioid overdose, abuse, and dependence in the United States, 2013","volume":"54","author":"Florence","year":"2016","journal-title":"Med Care"},{"key":"ref12","volume-title":"Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) series 63: medications for opioid use disorder (HHS publication no. PEP21-02-01-002): Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration;","year":"2021"},{"key":"ref13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"108329","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jsat.2021.108329","article-title":"Who stays in medication treatment for opioid use disorder? A national study of outpatient specialty treatment settings","volume":"126","author":"Krawczyk","year":"2021","journal-title":"J Subst Abus Treat"},{"key":"ref14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"209139","DOI":"10.1016\/j.josat.2023.209139","article-title":"Relationship between medication adherence for opioid use disorder and health care costs and health care events in a claims dataset","volume":"154","author":"Liao","year":"2023","journal-title":"J Subst Use Addict Treat"},{"key":"ref15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"59","DOI":"10.2147\/SAR.S150253","article-title":"Relationship between buprenorphine adherence and relapse, health care utilization and costs in privately and publicly insured patients with opioid use disorder","volume":"9","author":"Ronquest","year":"2018","journal-title":"Subst Abus Rehabil"},{"key":"ref16","first-page":"e172","article-title":"Heterogeneity of nonadherent buprenorphine patients: subgroup characteristics and outcomes","volume":"23","author":"Ruetsch","year":"2017","journal-title":"Am J Manag Care"},{"key":"ref17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"456","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jsat.2013.10.014","article-title":"Relationship between buprenorphine adherence and health service utilization and costs among opioid dependent patients","volume":"46","author":"Tkacz","year":"2014","journal-title":"J Subst Abus Treat"},{"key":"ref18","year":"2025"},{"key":"ref19","year":"2025"}],"container-title":["Frontiers in Public Health"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fpubh.2026.1774410\/full","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,5]],"date-time":"2026-03-05T15:46:37Z","timestamp":1772725597000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fpubh.2026.1774410\/full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,5]]},"references-count":19,"alternative-id":["10.3389\/fpubh.2026.1774410"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fpubh.2026.1774410","relation":{},"ISSN":["2296-2565"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2296-2565","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,5]]},"article-number":"1774410"}}