Evaluating buprenorphine prescribing and opioid-related health outcomes following the expansion the buprenorphine waiver program

AimsTo evaluate associations between new types of buprenorphine waivers (nurse practitioner and physician assistant [NP/PA]; 275-patient limit [MD/DO-275]) and both buprenorphine prescribing and health outcomes.MethodsUsing comprehensive county-level data from California 2010–2018, we modeled quarterly associations between numbers of NP/PA and MD/DO-275 waivers and rates of buprenorphine prescribing, opioid-related deaths, emergency department...