June 10, 2024
Requirements for Buprenorphine Prescribing
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) announced in January 2023 that clinicians no longer need a federal waiver to prescribe buprenorphine for treatment of opioid use disorder.
Clinicians are still required to register with the federal Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to prescribe controlled medications.
In June 2023 the DEA began to require that registration applicants – both new and renewing – affirm they have completed a new, one-time, eight-hour training.
Exceptions for the new training requirement are:
- Practitioners who are board certified in addiction medicine or addiction psychiatry
- Graduates from a medical, dental, physician assistant or advanced practice nursing school in the U.S. within five years of June 27, 2023
Please note Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) still have the opportunity to apply for a $3,000 payment on behalf of each provider who trained between January 1, 2019 and December 29, 2022.
Approximately $889,000 in program funding remains available for RHCs and will be paid on a first-come, first-served basis until funds are exhausted.
Please send questions to DATA2000WaiverPayments@hrsa.gov