Some hospitals now have dedicated addiction medicine consult teams — worth knowing about if you or a family member is hospitalized for any reason while also dealing with opioid use disorder.
What these teams do: Provide specialized addiction medicine expertise within a hospital admission for any reason (not just directly substance-related) — managing withdrawal safely during a hospital stay, starting or continuing MOUD, and coordinating follow-up care after discharge.
Why this matters: A hospital stay for an unrelated medical issue (an injury, an infection, surgery) is often an overlooked opportunity to address opioid use disorder directly, or a moment where poorly managed withdrawal can complicate an otherwise unrelated medical problem.
What to ask if you or a family member is hospitalized: Whether the hospital has an addiction medicine consult service, and if so, requesting that consult directly rather than waiting for it to be offered.
Why this connects to overdose risk: Hospital discharge, like detox and incarceration, is a period of reduced tolerance — an addiction consult team can help ensure a safer discharge plan that accounts for this. overdose risk after a break tool
Medically reviewed by [pending]. Sources: ASAM, hospital-based addiction medicine literature.