A warm handoff is the process of transitioning a patient with a substance use disorder from an intercept point, such as an emergency department, to a treatment provider once the patient is stable.

Mobile medical services entail the administration of controlled medications for the treatment of opioid use disorder by emergency medical services professionals outside of a fixed medical facility, e.g., in an ambulance or van.

Warm handoffs and mobile medical services place overdose survivors and other people with substance use disorders on a path to treatment and recovery, and they can decrease the risk of subsequent overdose.

Overdose survivors have a high likelihood of future hospitalization and fatal or near-fatal medical events. According to data on privately insured individuals aged 18 to 64, 40% of patients who received hospital care for opioid-related conditions did not receive any follow-up services whatsoever within 30 days of the hospitalization. Of those who did receive treatment, only 10.7% received the hospital-recommended combination of both medication and behavioral therapy services.

Warm handoffs and mobile medical services can improve treatment uptake for overdose survivors and increase treatment retention. The results of a 2015 study of people with opioid use disorder treated in emergency departments found that 78% who received buprenorphine medication were still in treatment after the warm handoff intervention. This compared to 45% who received brief interventions from emergency department staff, and 37% who received only referrals for treatment.

In addition, a 2017 clinical trial of emergency-department-initiated treatment with buprenorphine plus 10 weeks of continued buprenorphine treatment showed increased engagement in addiction treatment and reduced illicit opioid use during the 2-month interval of continued buprenorphine treatment.