An interventional study of Contingency Management and Usual care as prescribed by the ED physicians in Opioid Use Disorder, sponsored by University of Vermont. Completed at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-10-20.
Sponsored by University of Vermont · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment
Project Summary The goal of this pilot clinical trial is to assess contingency management (CM) for increasing attendance at outpatient clinics after Medication for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD) prescription and clinic referral occurred in the hospital Emergency Department (ED).
The primary outcome of interest is the number of participants who receive their first MOUD prescription from the outpatient clinic after discharge from the ED in UC+CM compared to the UC-only condition. A secondary outcome will be the proportion of participants who kept attending outpatient MOUD treatment by the end of the 30-day study period between UC+CM and UC conditions. An exploratory outcome will be biochemically-verified illicit opioid abstinence measured at day 30.
Opioid overdose disorder (OUD) and related morbidity and mortality remains an epidemic in the United States with annual deaths surpassing 100,000 in 2021. Medications for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD) are effective for reducing illicit opioid use and overdose but access to MOUD among US adults with OUD remains low. Hospital Emergency Departments (ED) are a front line in the opioid overdose epidemic. In response to this crisis, a multidisciplinary team in the ED located in the University of Vermont Medical Center (UVMMC) has implemented the Start Treatment and Recovery (STAR) program which consists of dedicated on-site staff in the ED that identify patients with OUD and provide resources, including MOUD prescriptions, and referral to outpatient clinic resources. The STAR program has increased the number of individuals with OUD that enter the ED who receive access to outpatient services and MOUD. Nonetheless, clinic data indicates about 50% of individuals with STAR MOUD referrals attend their first outpatient clinic appointment which highlights a significant gap to be addressed. The present study will use contingency management (CM) to address this gap. CM is a standardized and highly-efficacious treatment that has been applied to reduce opioid use, as well as cigarette, psychostimulant, and alcohol use. The Vermont Center on Behavior and Health has >30 years of experience studying the use of incentives for behavior change. This two-arm pilot randomized clinical trial aims to 1) provide a preliminary test of whether usual care (UC)+CM is more effective than UC alone at promoting MOUD clinic attendance after discharge from the ED and 2) demonstrate feasibility of providing CM in the ED and outpatient MOUD clinic settings. The investigators will randomize 30 adults who initiated MOUD in the ED into two arms. The two arms consist of (A) UC alone: A referral to an outpatient buprenorphine or methadone provider with reminders from STAR program staff or (B) UC+CM: UC plus financial incentives contingent upon MOUD clinic attendance to receive an MOUD prescription. Incentives will be contingent on electronic health records (EHR) indicating a MOUD prescription. Participants will have the opportunity to earn a compensation over 30 days. The incentives will consist of a priming incentive in the ED, a moderate incentive for attending the first outpatient visit, and the remaining incentives distributed evenly according to number of scheduled clinic visits attended. The proportion of participants who receive an MOUD prescription following discharge from the ED is the primary outcome of interest. A secondary outcome will be the proportion of participants who remained in outpatient MOUD treatment at the end of the 30-day study period between UC+CM and UC conditions. An exploratory outcome will be biochemically-verified illicit opioid abstinence measured at day 30. Planned sample size (n=30) is based on previous pilot trials using CM conducted by our group. Although the proposed pilot trial is not powered to detect statistically significant results, the investigators expect effect sizes to be consistent with those found in prior meta-analyses.
1,472 studies on the registry are indexed under Opioid-Related Disorders; 290 are open to participants now.
This study's enrollment of 12 is below the median of 63 across 1,166 interventional studies indexed under Opioid-Related Disorders.
Browse Opioid-Related Disorders studies →University of Vermont is the lead sponsor of 221 studies on the registry; 27 are open to participants now.
Of its 17 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 9 (53%) have results posted.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Major inclusion criteria include
Exclusion Criteria
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Informed consent
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Participants assigned to this arm will receive incentives when they complete their first outpatient MOUD clinic visit and when they complete subsequent visits to pick up their MOUD prescription for the 30-day study period.
Behavioral: Contingency Management · Behavioral: Usual care as prescribed by the ED physicians
All participants will receive standard outpatient care at their clinic.
Behavioral: Usual care as prescribed by the ED physicians
Participants in the active arm will receive payment (monetary incentive) contingent on outpatient MOUD treatment attendance.
All participants will receive standard outpatient care at their clinic.
Intake at outpatient MOUD clinic
The proportion of participants who complete their initial (intake) outpatient MOUD clinic appointment after discharge from the emergency department.
Time frame: 30 days
Attendance at outpatient MOUD clinic
The proportion of MOUD clinic appointments attended following discharge from the emergency department.
Time frame: 30 days
PDFs hosted by the registry, ClinicalTrials.gov.
Plan to share: No
Ran from Sep 2025 to primary completion in Oct 2026, 13 months.
Of 464 non-industry interventional studies with no phase under Opioid-Related Disorders, half reached primary completion within 29 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 14 and three quarters within 47. This study's 13 months is below that.
Counting every sponsor, half of 495 studies reached it within 29 months; a quarter within 13 and three quarters within 46.
Since we started tracking on Sep 25, 2026, the dates moved once, on Oct 20, 2026: primary completion Apr 2027 → Oct 2026 and completion May 2027 → Oct 2026.
Earlier changes are on the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.
From the registry record's own update history. This site started tracking changes on Sep 25, 2026; for anything earlier, see the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
This study is completed, as verified in Oct 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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