Feasibility and acceptability of collaborative documentation tool for implementing medication-assisted treatment in substance use disorder counseling

Despite the escalating opioid epidemic, as little as 11% of patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) receive medication-assisted treatment (MAT), the best-practice intervention for OUD. Many patients do not receive education about the benefits of MAT and thus hold negative beliefs about MAT, which reduces MAT uptake. Shared decision-making (SDM) helps engage patients in beneficial treatment decisions but is not systematically integrated into MAT counseling. A structured SDM session guide for front-line counselors, with a health-record template using a collaborative documentation (CD) approach, was developed and its feasibility and acceptability was pilot-tested. The session guide (CD MAT Tool) contains a training manual and session templates. Counselors (n = 11) were trained with the CD MAT Tool and used it with their patients (n = 9). Qualitative interviews and focus groups with counselors and patients demonstrated high feasibility, acceptability, and positive session impact of the CD MAT Tool. Implications for further research and practice use are discussed.