Opioid addicts in King County can call a new hotline and get an immediate prescription for a medication that can help them. Buprenorphine relieves withdrawal symptoms and can help people get off fentanyl and other opioids.
Buprenorphine “reduces the risk of overdose by 50%, and that’s why we want to make sure it’s available when people need it,” Brad Finegood of the Seattle & King County Health Department told Seattle City Council members on Wednesday. The hotline is funded by the department and administered by UW Medicine.
The Tele-Bup hotline is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week to anyone in King County who is addicted to opioids ages 13 and older. Callers are connected to a UW Medicine emergency physician who can send a buprenorphine prescription to a pharmacy near them.
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“In the past, there were a lot of hurdles to starting treatment,” says Dr. Lauren Whiteside, a University of Washington emergency physician who helped design the hotline and is one of 15 doctors who answer the phone. “This program takes that exact moment (when someone is ready to start treatment) with a lot of support … so that starting treatment doesn’t feel like an insurmountable task.”
Within three days of that initial call, a care coordinator contacts the patient to check that they have picked up the prescription, that they are doing well (ie, the dose is easing withdrawal symptoms and side effects are minimal), and to connect them to further care. It often takes five to 10 calls to get back to patients – who may lead busy, complicated lives – but the hotline has successfully connected more than half of its patients to further care.
Patients using the hotline must be located in Washington state at the time of the call. Calling the hotline is free, but insurance may be required for buprenorphine itself or there may be a charge.
Buprenorphine does not get you high. It also carries a lower risk of overdose and is therefore considered safer (and less regulated) than methadone.
“Patients who take medications like buprenorphine are healthier, have a better chance of success and stay alive,” Whiteside said.
Use of the Telebup hotline has increased significantly this summer. In the first six months of the hotline’s existence, providers have filled 210 buprenorphine prescriptions. Since the beginning of July, the number has risen to 96 prescriptions.
About a third of hotline patients are already taking medication for opioid use disorder but have run out and need a “bridge prescription” until they can see their regular doctor. Patients using the hotline can only get a maximum of two buprenorphine prescriptions in a two-week period.
The hotline is modeled after a similar program in Rhode Island. It is one of many county programs aimed at reducing overdose deaths and helping those struggling with addiction.
Overdose deaths in King County are down about 15% compared to 2023, but still above 2022 levels.
“An overdose is unacceptable,” said Finegood of the health department, “but it gives us some hope that the number of overdoses is slowly declining.”
You can reach the hotline at 206-289-0287.
