Projects: NAABT.org Patient/Physician Matching System

The window of opportunity for an addicted person in seeking help and the governmental restrictions on physicians able to provide Buprenorphine treatment were both addressed with the development of this System.

The NAABT Patient/Physician Matching System helps connect patients seeking treatment with certified physicians providing treatment. Think of this web application as a "Lending Tree" for patients that have a hard time finding certified physicians to treat their Opioid addiction. In other words, various physicians analyze the individual situation and then "compete" for the right to treat a patient based on their prior experience and current capacity and ability. A patient visits the matching system, signs-up in an anonymous fashion while answering about 15 questions that assist area physicians in deciding if they have the capacity to treat the patient. Once the application is submitted, physicians in the geographic range of the zip code provided are notified that a patient has signed up in their area via email. The physician then logs into the system and reviews all patient applications in their area. If the physician is able to treat the patient, s/he has the ability to send notification emails to patients. Neither patient nor physician email addresses are given – it is all done seamlessly and anonymously through this application.

This system is vital to NAABT's mission to help patients find medication-assisted treatment for Opioid addiction. Because of government-enforced limitations, the number of physicians certified to prescribe this medication is low; and of those, the number who choose to follow through and provide treatment is even lower. Added to that is the per-physician patient limit of either 30 or 100 per physician, making it very difficult for a patient to find a qualified and available physician. The system delivers over 2,500 messages per month to over 700 patients who register seeking treatment each month.

The PPMS is supported by direct mail advertising to certified physicians who have yet to sign up and mass transit advertising campaigns for patients that might be looking for help.