Bridging Recovery Initiative Despite Gaps in Entry (BRIDGE): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial of a bridge clinic compared with usual care for patients with opioid use disorder

BACKGROUND: Patients with substance use disorders are overrepresented among general hospital inpatients, and their admissions are associated with longer lengths of stay and increased readmission rates. Amid the national opioid crisis, increased attention has been given to the integration of addiction with routine medical care in order to better engage such patients and minimize fragmentation of care. General hospital addiction consultation services and transitional, hospital-based “bridge” clinics have emerged as potential solutions. We designed the Bridging Recovery Initiative Despite Gaps in Entry (BRIDGE) trial to determine if these clinics are superior to usual care for these patients. METHODS: This single-center, pragmatic, randomized controlled clinical trial is enrolling hospitalized patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) who are initiating medication for OUD (MOUD) in consultation with the addiction consult service. Patients are randomized for referral to a co-located, transitional, multidisciplinary bridge clinic or to usual care, with the assignment probability being determined by clinic capacity. The primary endpoint is hospital length of stay. Secondary endpoints include quality of life, linkage to care, self-reported buprenorphine or naltrexone fills, rate of known recurrent opioid use, readmission rates, and costs. Implementation endpoints include willingness to be referred to the bridge clinic, attendance rates among those referred, and reasons why patients were not eligible for referral. The main analysis will use an intent-to-treat approach with full covariate adjustment. DISCUSSION: This ongoing pragmatic trial will provide evidence on the effectiveness of proactive linkage to a bridge clinic intervention for hospitalized patients with OUD initiating evidence-based pharmacotherapy in consultation with the addiction consult service. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.govNCT04084392. Registered on 10 September 2019. The study has been approved by the Vanderbilt Institutional Review Board. The current approved protocol is dated version May 12, 2021. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13063-021-05698-4.