Remote tracking system eases methadone take‐home process

Abstract

For anyone concerned about diversion of methadone take‐homes, there's a solution in technology. It's a remote tracking system called Sonara. Michael Giles, M.D., who was a resident in psychiatry working in an opioid treatment program (OTP, commonly known as a methadone clinic), founded Sonara Health after his experience there: he learned that many patients couldn't stay in treatment because they couldn't make it to the clinic for the required number of times to maximize methadone take‐homes. He founded Sonara before the COVID‐19 pandemic, which resulted in the federal government's liberalization of take‐home rules (see https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adaw.32664). But still, many patients do not get as many take‐homes as they would like, and this is partly due to the worries by OTPs about patient and public safety, and the concerns by drug enforcement and government officials about diversion (related to public safety).