Who Gets Treatment and Why? Evidence, Inequity, and Solutions in Addiction Care | S2 E2

In this Host Rx episode, Dr. O examines a critical reality in addiction care: access gaps.Medications for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD), including buprenorphine, reduce all-cause mortality by approximately 50%. The evidence is clear. Yet in the United States, who receives these medications often depends on race, income, insurance status, and geography.What This Episode Covers- Racial disparities in buprenorphine prescribing. - Geographic inequities and treatment deserts. - Medicaid expansion and insurance barriers. - Adolescent access gaps. - Telehealth reforms and post-COVID regulatory changes. - Structural determinants driving opioid mortality.Grounded in peer-reviewed research and national policy analysis, this episode is designed for clinicians, policymakers, advocates, public health professionals, researchers, and trainees in psychiatry and addiction medicine, as well as anyone who wants to understand why zip code should not determine survival.Featured Research- Lagisetty et al., 2019. Buprenorphine Treatment Divide. JAMA Psychiatry. --Krawczyk et al., 2022. Policy Impact on Buprenorphine Access. JAMA Network Open. -Goedel et al., 2021. Structural Determinants of Treatment Access. American Journal of Psychiatry. -Samples et al., 2022. Telehealth and Buprenorphine Access. Health Affairs. -Williams et al., 2023 .Treatment Inequities and Policy Reform. Lancet Psychiatry. -Priest et al., 2022. Adolescent Treatment Access. Journal of Adolescent Health. -Clinical guidance: SAMHSA and CDC.Episode Chapters00:00 Welcome to Transformed Minds 01:27 Why Access Matters 04:11 Research on Treatment Gaps 07:07 Clinician Pipeline and Policy 11:16 Frameworks and Care Models 12:31 Buprenorphine vs Methadone Systems 16:07 Geography, Youth, and Trauma 20:04 Case Study: Marcus 22:58 How Buprenorphine Works 25:50 Access Is the Treatment 27:35 Screen for Structural Barriers 30:55 Final Call to AdvocateBecause where you live should not determine whether you survive.