Interviews
VIRUS
Interviews were conducted individually in all but two cases in which participants wished to be interviewed together to provide multiple perspectives. Interviews averaged 60 min in length and followed a semi-structured interview guide to examine the process of preparing to implement interim methadone, focusing on its feasibility and acceptability. However, since implementation activities coincided with COVID-19, many of the questions were impacted by changes occurring at the federal, state, community, and OTP levels to reduce the population’s exposure to the virus. These questions focused on aspects of care, such as staffing, treatment access for new and established patients, and methadone regulations. The study’s semi-structured interview guide accommodated the influence of these larger regulatory modifications by the addition of probes specifically querying for the impact of COVID-19-related changes.