OUD Audience Segments

Individuals currently prescribed buprenorphine-based medication (Suboxone film, generic buprenorphine, or Sublocade injectable) for opioid use disorder, within active treatment.

• •Adherence varies widely — daily-dose stigma, clinic visits, telehealth MOUD comfort
• •Relapse episodes common — fentanyl exposure, polysubstance use (stimulants rising)
• •Prescriber relationship drives retention more than medication itself
• •Stigma management — hiding treatment from employers, family, 12-step peers
• •Switching consideration between daily Suboxone and monthly Sublocade
• •Concurrent counseling participation inconsistent

Individuals who completed or paused MOUD and are in sustained recovery (6+ months), navigating the MAT-vs-abstinence tension inside recovery communities.

• •Recovery identity is central — 'in recovery' self-label, not 'addict'
• •MAT stigma within 12-step / abstinence-only recovery communities
• •Relapse anxiety high, especially around life transitions
• •Peer-support reliance (SMART, AA/NA, online communities)
• •Discontinuation of MOUD often unplanned — prescriber loss, cost, 'I'm cured'
• •Re-initiation triggers: stress, loss, fentanyl availability, loss of support

Individuals with active opioid use disorder who are not currently on medication — some diagnosed and seeking, others undiagnosed and ambivalent. The new-patient acquisition frontier.

• •Treatment barriers: cost, stigma, prescriber scarcity, X-waiver confusion (now removed)
• •Fentanyl exposure near-universal in active use — overdose history common
• •ER and naloxone encounters as de facto touchpoints
• •Criminal justice contact frequent — the involuntary entry path
• •Telehealth MOUD openness high but access-poor awareness
• •Information-seeking online, peer-network driven, low trust of institutions

Physicians, NPs, PAs, and addiction medicine specialists actively prescribing medication for opioid use disorder. The demand-side decision-makers.

• •X-waiver removal changed practice — but comfort and adoption lag policy
• •Sublocade adoption vs daily buprenorphine — adherence-vs-logistics tradeoff
• •Telehealth MOUD comfort varies by generation and setting
• •Payer friction — prior auth, dosing limits, injectable coverage gaps
• •Patient retention strategies: counseling integration, check-in cadence
• •Stigma among non-specialist prescribers still a barrier to entering field

Spouses, parents, and adult children of someone with OUD — the decision-influencer layer around treatment initiation and adherence. Not patients themselves, but often the ones driving the treatment conversation.

• •Treatment-seeking on behalf of loved one — research, calls, appointments, cost-bearing
• •Naloxone carriage common after an overdose event; overdose-response trauma prevalent
• •Support-group participation (PAL, Nar-Anon, online caregiver communities)
• •Stigma and caregiver burden — isolation, blame, exhaustion, hidden grief
• •Information-seeking intensity high; trust in clinical sources uneven; peer-network driven
• •Influence on medication choice — adherence coaching, Sublocade convenience appeal, format-switch advocacy
• •Bereavement risk: a subset become post-loss advocates — screen separately if studying active decisions

Medicaid and Medicare officials, private payer medical directors, state opioid authorities, and SAMHSA-adjacent decision-makers controlling coverage and access to OUD treatment.

• •Formulary decisions — injectable vs oral buprenorphine coverage varies widely
• •Prior authorization friction is the #1 access barrier cited
• •Outcomes-based contracting openness rising — real-world evidence demand
• •Medicaid is the largest OUD payer — state variation is the research story
• •Stigma in policy design — coverage limits reflect ambivalence about MOUD
• •Data hunger — they want longitudinal, real-world outcomes, not pharma marketing