Outpatient Induction to Methadone Maintenance Treatment for Heroin Addiction

A group of 19 former heroin addicts, brought on the Methadone Maintenance and Treatment Program as outpatients, was studied for program performance. A variety of measurement methods were employed over a one-year period. Where possible, ambulatory group performance was compared to that of 37 hospital-induced (HI) patients in the same clinic. The setting was the outpatient department of a voluntary, teaching hospital in New York city. By any measure employed, ambulatory-induced (Al) patient performance was found to be relatively and absolutely satisfactory. The ambulatory induction method is recommended for similar settings to facilitate more rapid methadone management of potential program patients.