ASAM Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder Guideline Summary - Guideline Central

Design and created by Guideline Central in participation with the American Society of Addiction Medicine.

Document Overview

Document Title: Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder

Authoring Society: American Society of Addiction Medicine

Document Publication Date: Mar 20, 2020

Page Last Reviewed/Updated: May 5, 2026

Document Type: Guideline

Country of Publication: United States

Full Text Freely Available: Yes

Full Text Guideline: www.asam.org/quality-care/clinical-guidelines/national-practice-guideline

Source Citation: The ASAM National Practice Guideline for the Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder: 2020 Focused Update. Available at: https://www.asam.org/Quality-Science/quality/ 2020-national-practice-guideline. doi: 10.1097/ADM.0000000000000633

Supplemental Implementation Resources

Document Scope, Criteria, and Use Cases

Document Objectives: The American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) developed the National Practice Guideline for the Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder (the Practice Guideline) to provide information on evidence-based treatment of opioid use disorder. This guideline is intended to assist clinicians in the decision-Making process for prescribing pharmacotherapies and psychosocial treatments to patients with opioid use disorder.

Scope: Assessment and Screening, Counseling, Management, Prevention, Treatment

Keywords: Addiction Medicine, OUD, Opioid Use Disorder, Overdose, buprenorphine, methadone, naloxone, opioids

Target Patient Population: patients with opioid use disorder in diverse settings

Target Provider Population: all clinicians, at any level, involved in evaluating for, and/or providing, opioid use disorder treatment in the United States.

Inclusion Criteria: Male, Female, Adolescent, Adult, Older Adult

Health Care Settings: Ambulatory, Correctional Facility, Emergency Care, Hospital, Outpatient

Intended Users: Addiction Treatment Specialist, Counselor, Nurse, Nurse Practitioner, Paramedic/EMT, Physician, Physician Assistant, Psychologist

Recommendation Development Processes & Methodology

Number of Source Documents: 170

Literature Search Start Date: Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Literature Search End Date: Thursday, September 27, 2018

Includes peer/external review process?: Yes

Includes public comment process?: Yes

Methodologist involvement?: Yes

Patient involvement?: No

Includes multi-disciplinary group?: Yes

Includes systematic review?: Yes

Grades quality of strength of evidence?: Yes

Grades quality of strength of recommendation?: No

Discloses funding source?: Yes

Discloses conflicts of interest?: Yes

Includes benefits/harms analysis with recommendations?: Yes

Identifies study selection process?: Yes

Identifies study selection criteria?: Yes

Identifies methods used to evaluate and analyze the evidence?: Yes

Identifies key questions addressed by the systematic review?: Yes

Identifies search strategy?: Yes