Purpose of the present study
EMERGENCY
The Implementation Phase of the parent study began just prior to the mid-March 2020 COVID lockdown. The subsequent federal COVID-19 Public Health Emergency declaration permitted SAMHSA to allow states to request a blanket exemption to the federal OTP take home regulations in order to support physical distancing at the programs. To that end, SAMHSA also continued to allow the use of telehealth for counseling. The aim of the present study was to examine the views of OTP staff and SOTAs that emerged during the parent study’s qualitative interviews on the impact of the relaxation of OTP regulations and shift to telehealth on OTP staff, established patients, and people seeking admission.