Assessing the Initial Impact of X-Waiver Elimination on Buprenorphine Prescribing for Opioid Use Disorder

In this retrospective analysis of a large EHR dataset, we found that following the elimination of the X-waiver, the incidence of new OUD diagnoses declined by 2%, while subsequent buprenorphine initiation increased by 14%. These findings highlight the impact of regulatory changes on buprenorphine prescribing and underscore the need for continued efforts to reduce barriers to this life-saving treatment for OUD.