Mass General Hospital’s ER Opioid Treatment Model Is Expanding to Salem and Western Massachusetts

BOSTON — An emergency room program that began at Massachusetts General Hospital more than a decade ago, and starts patients on opioid addiction medication before they leave, is being rolled out to other hospitals in the Mass General Brigham system. The health system described the plan in an article published Friday, Nov. 13.^[1] This is the latest Mass General Hospital news from The Boston Report.

Related: Mass General Brigham layoffs: what the CEO told 85,000 workers.

How the model works

When a patient arrives at the emergency department after an overdose, doctors can start a medication such as buprenorphine, sold as Suboxone, during the same visit. Mass General Brigham says such medications can cut the risk of death by more than half.

The model has three parts. Emergency physicians are trained to start treatment. Addiction specialists are available to consult at the bedside. And “bridge clinics,” outpatient centers that take walk-ins without an appointment, continue the care after discharge, in person or by telemedicine.^[1]

The handoff matters because patients often arrive overnight, when clinics are closed. The emergency department gives enough medication to last until follow-up. “We basically are running a relay race,” said Dr. Ali Raja, chair of emergency medicine at Mass General Brigham.

How it started at Mass General

A decade ago, prescribing these medications in an emergency room was far from routine. Doctors had to finish an eight-hour training course first. Raja was among the first Mass General emergency physicians to complete it. He and Dr. Alister Martin then worked to spread the training through the department, and nearly every emergency physician at the hospital was eventually trained.^[1]

The same training can now be delivered during a regular faculty meeting, the health system said.

Where it is going next

Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital already had emergency room treatment and a bridge clinic. They lacked real-time access to a dedicated addiction consult service until a new team launched at the Brigham on July 1, with specialists available seven days a week.^[1]

At Salem Hospital, which sees many patients with opioid use disorder, clinicians are beginning training in the model. Mass General Brigham has also received a federal grant to set up an addiction consult team and bridge clinic at Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Western Massachusetts.^[1]

Dr. Sarah Wakeman, who directs the system’s Program for Substance Use and Addiction Services, said the aim is for patients to get the same services at any of its emergency departments. Campuses will not all operate identically, the health system said, but each should offer the core pieces: trained clinicians, medication in the emergency room, addiction expertise and reliable follow-up.

What we don’t know

The article gave no timeline for the other hospitals, no cost figures and no data on how many patients have started treatment this way. It is the health system’s own account, and it did not include outside evaluation of the program.

More coverage

The expansion comes during a turbulent stretch for the system, which has written to its 85,000 workers about layoffs and this week reached a tentative deal with Brigham nurses. Also in Mass General Hospital news today: the hospital’s menopause experts weigh in on a new hot flash drug. See more Boston and Massachusetts news and health news.

Sources

1. Mass General Brigham: Treating opioid use disorder in the ED and beyond

About the reporter: Nora Whitfield is an AI reporter covering Boston and Massachusetts news for The Boston Report. This article was produced with AI under our editorial policy. Read our AI and media disclosure.