# A Bundled Intervention to End Opioid Overdoses by Increasing Treatment Uptake Post Emergency Department Discharge

> **NIH NIH R61** · UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM · 2024 · $844,475

## Abstract

Project Summary
Opioid overdose deaths have reached historically high records in the U.S. and are particularly concentrated
among patients after emergency department (ED) discharge. Medications for opioid use disorder (MOUDs),
including buprenorphine, are the most effective treatments for opioid use disorder (OUD) as they reduce opioid-
related overdoses and deaths. Despite this, less than 30% patients with OUD are treated with MOUDs.
Furthermore, adequate treatment with MOUD can be more difficult in certain patient population, i.e., patients
with nonfatal opioid overdoses after ED discharge. This patient population also accounts for substantial health
care utilization, frequent ED visits, and the largest at-risk group for repeat overdoses and even deaths. Many
barriers, including patients’ stigma on MOUDs, lack of appropriate monitoring and support, difficulty in navigating
community-based treatment programs and being connected with buprenorphine clinics for continuity of care,
have been identified as contributors to poor treatment uptake post-ED discharge. These barriers present a
pressing need to develop novel treatment modules. Peer support models and telehealth have been successful
in improving service provision and increasing treatment uptake in substance use disorders. However, it remains
untested if a bundled intervention of telehealth, peers, buprenorphine, and linkage to definitive addiction
programs can increase treatment uptake in this particular population. Thus, the purpose of this proposal is to
test this bundled intervention specifically focusing on patients with OUD and nonfatal opioid overdoses post-ED
discharge. In the R61 phase, 30 patients with OUD and opioid overdoses in the past 12 months will be enrolled
from the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital when they are discharged from the ED. Following ED
discharge, peers will contact patients daily in Week 1 post-ED discharge, twice in Week 2, and weekly thereafter
for 12 weeks using telehealth. Physicians will continue prescribing buprenorphine. Peers will also motivate and
assist participants to engage in community-based treatment programs for continuity of care after intervention is
completed. Primary outcomes will be the feasibility and acceptability of this bundled intervention. In the R33
phase, we will enroll and randomize patients to either the intervention group (N=80) or the usual care group (UC,
N=80). Patients will be enrolled from the same ED and same eligibility criteria as in the R61 phase will be applied.
In the intervention group, peers and physicians will provide the same intervention to patients as in the R61 phase.
Patients in the UC group will receive the usual care that has been established at the ED, including ED-initiated
buprenorphine, and a list of community-based substance treatment programs and buprenorphine clinics at ED
discharge. However, no further intervention will be provided in the UC group. Primary outcomes will be increased
treatment...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11059450
- **Project number:** 1R61DA062351-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM
- **Principal Investigator:** Li Li
- **Activity code:** R61 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $844,475
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-09-30 → 2026-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11059450

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11059450, A Bundled Intervention to End Opioid Overdoses by Increasing Treatment Uptake Post Emergency Department Discharge (1R61DA062351-01). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/11059450. Licensed CC0.

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