Methadone: The Right Dose, Every Day

EP 03 🎙 Special Series: ASAM's 57th Annual Conference This episode is part of a special three-part series spotlighting key sessions from ASAM’s 57th Annual Conference.   In this episode of ASAM Practice Pearls, In this episode of ASAM Practice Pearls, Dr. Elizabeth Salisbury-Afshar is joined by Drs. Ruth Potee and Ari Kriegsman to explore highlights from their session, The Right Dose, Every Day. Together, they challenge the algorithmic, punitive approaches to methadone treatment, instead promoting individualized, patient-centered care. They share their clinical and philosophical approaches to methadone treatment, including split dosing, missed-dosing protocols, and expanded take-home medications, offering practical insights to help you advocate for your patients and collaborate across care settings. ----more---- Looking for this episode's transcript? Download it HERE Get credit for listening! Claim your 0.5 CEs HERE Have an idea for a future episode? Share it with us at education@asam.org. Host Elizabeth Salisbury-Afshar, MD, MPH, FAAFP, FACPM, DFASAM Dr. Elizabeth Salisbury-Afshar is a family medicine, public health and general preventive medicine, and addiction medicine physician. Her work focuses on expanding access to evidence-based addiction treatment and harm reduction services, and she has over 14 years of experience practicing in medically underserved settings. Dr. Salisbury-Afshar is a Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she works clinically on an inpatient addiction consult team and is the Medical Director of a low-barrier walk-in clinic for people who use substances. Dr. Salisbury-Afshar is the Vice Chair of ASAM’s Medical Education Council and the Vice Chair of the Conference Program Planning Committee. Expert Ruth Potee, MD, DFASAM, FAAFP Dr. Ruth Potee is a board-certified Family Physician and Addiction Medicine physician who works across Massachusetts. She attended Wellesley College, Yale University School of Medicine, and did her residency at Boston University, where she remained an assistant professor of Family Medicine for eight years. She is currently the Medical Director for Behavioral Health Network and the Franklin County House of Corrections. She oversees 10 methadone clinics, including the first county jail-based methadone clinic in the United States. She was named Franklin County Doctor of the Year by the Massachusetts Medical Society in 2015 and has won multiple teaching awards from medical students and residents.  Expert Ari Kriegsman, MD, FASAM Dr. Ari Kreigsman is the Medical Director of the Carlson Recovery Center, an ASAM 3.7 Level Facility in Springfield, MA. He is also the Medical Director of the BHN Springfield OTP. He is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Addiction Medicine. He is a graduate of Weill Cornell Medical College, and completed his residency in Social Internal Medicine at Montefiore/Albert Einstein College of Medicine.  📖 Show Segments 00:05 - Introduction  02:30 - Philosophy of Methadone Treatment  06:42 - Training Gaps & Need for Individualized Clinical Decision-Making 08:29 - Caring for Patients with Unique Clinical Needs 10:13 - Rethinking Missed Dose Protocols 14:58 - Split Dosing Considerations 17:04 - Take-Home Medications 22:21 - Practice Pearls 25:36 - Conclusion and Additional Learning Opportunity  📋 Key Takeaways Patients choosing methadone choose life: Orient care around the patient's own goals, which is often staying alive and getting their life back. Clinical decisions should align with the patient’s goals and be tailored to each individual. Promote individualized dosing over rigid protocols: Clinicians should feel empowered to use clinical judgment for methadone dosing. There is no single protocol, and each patient's history, comorbidities, pain, and life circumstances should guide the dosing plan. Non-punitive missed dose approaches are safe and evidence-based: In most cases, patients who miss doses and continue using opioids can safely resume their previous (or nearly previous) methadone dose. Steep dose reductions can increase the patient's risk of overdose or wor