Crystal Rusk-Tremblay

For someone dealing with Opioid addiction, selecting the right Suboxone Doctor can be the difference between gaining one’s life back, or re-entering the vicious cycle of addiction relapse. SuboxoneDoctor.com helps simplify one of the most important decisions someone in recovery will make in their life. Here are several key factors to take in consideration when looking for a Suboxone Doctor.  

• Location- Whether choosing what school to send your children to, which local gym to purchase a membership at, or even what grocery store to use every week, location is always an important factor when making any decision. This is especially true when selecting a Suboxone Doctor.
  

  Due to the nature of MAT (Medication Assisted Treatment), a patient recovering from opioid addiction must ensure the location of their provider does not create additional hurdles on their path to recovery. It is common for a Suboxone Doctor to initially require a new patient to come to appointments on a weekly basis. This is done to ensure the patient is adjusting well to the medication, to confirm the treatment plan is being followed exactly as ordered, and to drastically increase the likely hood of a successful recovery. Every provider or practice has their own protocols. Eventually, most Suboxone Doctors will allow a patient to come in Bi-weekly, and even monthly, once the patient has built up good faith with the Suboxone Doctor by following the offices protocols over a certain period of time.  It is important to show your Suboxone Doctor you are serious about your recovery, so being on time for your appointments and not missing appointments is much simpler for a patient who has ensured their Suboxone Doctors location is convenient.

• Hours of Operation- Once you begin searching for a Suboxone Doctor and comparing and contrasting your options, you will quickly realize no 2 offices are the same. Some Suboxone Doctors may have full time traditional medical practices and only see their Suboxone Patients one day per week. Others may have a set time each day (Ex: from 12-3pm) assigned for their Suboxone Patients. It is not uncommon for Suboxone Doctors to offer only weekend appointments, or in other cases only appointments late in the evening, to accommodate for the rest of the providers busy schedule.  When searching for a Suboxone Doctor, always make sure their hours of operation do not interfere with your personal schedule (work, other medical appointments, drop off/pick up of children for school etc.)

• Payment Methods- Some Suboxone Doctors only accept cash payments. This option tends to work best for those currently without insurance. Most Suboxone Doctors do accept some form of insurance. Always make sure the provider accepts your form of insurance before scheduling an appointment.  SuboxoneDoctor.com’s platform allows all providers to not only list their accepted forms of payment, but also which forms of insurance they accept.

• Level of Comfort- When starting Suboxone treatment with a new Suboxone Doctor many personal topics are likely to come up during your visits. It is essential for the patient to be comfortable providing   completely honest answers and information when speaking with their Suboxone Doctor. This information is essential for the provider to make decisions such as what dosage to prescribe, how frequently a patient should be seen, and even exactly what medication regimen the patient will be assigned.

  
  

One of the most common questions we encounter at SuboxoneDoctor.com is “Where can I find a doctor who accepts Medicaid?” One of the reasons the SuboxoneDoctor.com platform was built was to address this exact inquiry.  If you are having trouble finding a Suboxone Doctor who accepts Medicaid on our platform, do not hesitate to contact us directly for assistance. You may either send a message through our contact forms on our website (https://www.suboxonedoctor.com/about/contact), or you may call us at 888-225-4440.

 It is important to understand how prescribing Suboxone works to understand why it can feel so difficult to find a Suboxone Doctor who accepts Medicaid or Medicare. When a doctor begins prescribing Suboxone they are issued a waiver. This initial waiver only allows them to prescribe Suboxone to 30 patients per month. After waiting 12 months, the Suboxone Doctor may request to increase their patient count from 30 patients to 100 patients. If a Suboxone Doctor then still has a need to see more patients, they can request for a final increase in the number of patients they can prescribe to, bringing the count to 275 patients.

           Taking this information into account, it becomes easy to understand why it is so important for patients to use SuboxoneDoctor.com to find a doctor who accepts Medicaid. Where some doctors only accept private insurance, and some even only accept cash payments, Suboxone Doctors who accept Medicaid and Medicare are in high demand. Statistics from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) show that while higher income individuals are more likely to suffer from alcoholism, those who suffer from poverty are much more likely to suffer from opioid addiction (https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6043a4.htm). Factoring in the higher demand for Suboxone doctors who accept Medicaid, and the limited number of slots available for doctors who accept Medicaid to prescribe Suboxone, it becomes much clearer why finding a doctor who will accept Medicaid can become so difficult.

Methadone and Suboxone are both used to treat opioid addiction. The way each drug works is slightly different, leaving each drug to have pros and cons. Methadone has been available to the public since 1947, where Suboxone has only been available since 2002.

Both drugs are synthetic opioids. Methadone is a full opioid agonist, meaning it binds to the opioid receptors on the user’s brain and activates them. This prevents withdrawal symptoms since the patient’s body is having the same reaction as if they have consumed heroin, fentanyl, or painkillers. The goal is to remove the negative feelings of withdrawal and cravings for a more deadly substance so the user can focus on recovery. This does not mean Methadone is harmless. According to a 2012 Center for Disease Control (CDC) study nearly one in three fatal overdoses were related to Methadone. Where Methadone can still cause high levels of impairment some see it as “swapping one addiction for another.” Where both drugs are readily available for those seeking treatment, a common outlook is Methadone is geared more toward those who are not fully ready for sobriety, have very high chances of relapse, and are still looking for the high associated with opioids. That being said, Methadone being administered in a controlled environment should always be safer then a patient purchasing painkillers, fentanyl, or heroin on the street.

Unlike Methadone, which was designed by the Germans leading up to World War 2 to be used as a pain reliever for soldiers, Suboxone was designed with addiction treatment in mind from the start. Suboxone is a combination of 2 drugs. The first drug is Buprenorphine, a partial opioid agonist (compared to Methadone being a full opioid agonist) which comprises of 80 percent of Suboxones makeup. Since Buprenorphine is only a partial opioid agonist, it partially binds to the user’s opioid receptors, activating them only slightly. This will remove cravings for other drugs for the user, while eliminating any withdrawal symptoms.  The remaining 20 percent of Suboxone is compromised as Naloxone. The purpose of Naloxone is to completely block the effects of opioids so the user does not feel a “high.”
           

            Naloxone has received a significant amount of attention the last several years. Naloxone is the main active ingredient in Narcan, the nasal spray or injection given to drug users who are experiencing an overdose. Where Naloxone is able to block the effects of even the strongest opioids such as heroin and fentanyl, it is responsible for saving countless lives.

            Compared to Methadone which some may describe as a controlled high that is highly monitored when administered, Suboxone is truly designed to remove the negative feelings and cravings associated with withdrawal from opioids without creating the feeling of impairment.  Statistically , Suboxone is typically agreed to be the safer option of the 2. The United Kingdom performed a study over the course of 6 years in which Methadone was recorded as the cause of death in 2,366 overdoses. Buprenorphine was responsible for 52 deaths in the same timeframe, leading to the conclusion that Suboxone was 6 times safer then Methadone.

When dealing with a urine drug test Suboxone can begin to come back positive just 45 minutes after the dose has been administered. For frequent, heavy users of Suboxone, a urine test can detect the drug for up to 2 weeks since the last dose.