Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) in Massachusetts: Suboxone, Naltrexone and Vivitrol in Needham, near Boston

Medication-assisted treatment pairs an FDA-approved medication with counseling to treat opioid use disorder and alcohol use disorder. At our Needham center the medications are buprenorphine, including the buprenorphine and naloxone combination sold as Suboxone, for opioid use disorder, and naltrexone, as a daily tablet or the monthly extended-release injection Vivitrol, for opioid and alcohol use disorder. The medication relieves withdrawal and cravings and, for opioids, blocks the high. The counseling, delivered in Day Treatment, Evening Treatment or our Outpatient Program, does the rest. Every prescription is written and overseen by our Medical Director, Dr. Richard Marasa, MD, who is board certified in Addiction Medicine, Emergency Medicine and Internal Medicine and who reviewed this page.

We do not run medical detox on site in Needham. When withdrawal needs to be managed in a medical setting first, we arrange it with a partner facility and plan your medication start with us for the day it is complete. For a full explanation of each medication, how the first dose is timed and what follow-up looks like, read our main medication-assisted treatment page. This page covers what is specific to Needham: getting here, the Massachusetts program names, and MassHealth and Massachusetts insurance.

Our Needham center is at 392 Chestnut Street, Suite 200, Needham, MA 02492, with free on-site parking. By car it sits just off Route 128/I-95 at the Needham exits, about 30 minutes from downtown Boston, 10 from Newton, 6 from Wellesley by Route 9, 8 from Dedham, 15 from Waltham and 20 from Framingham. By train, the MBTA Needham Line from South Station, Back Bay, Ruggles and Forest Hills ends at Needham Heights, a short walk from our door, so a person who works downtown can come straight from the office for a medication visit or an evening group without a car.

That matters for MAT more than for most programs, because medication visits are frequent early on. Frequent visits are workable when the office is a short walk from a train stop and a few minutes off the highway, and they are not when it means an hour in traffic each way. Medication visits are scheduled around your program hours, and people in Evening Treatment can see the medical team on a group night.

The sequence is the same at both of our centers. A confidential clinical assessment and a medical evaluation, often the same day you call. If buprenorphine is the right medication, our medical team times the first dose with you for when early withdrawal has begun and checks in with you that day and the next, adjusting the dose over the first week until withdrawal and cravings are controlled. If naltrexone or Vivitrol is the right medication for opioid use disorder, you need an opioid-free window of roughly 7 to 10 days first, which we usually arrange through a partner detox facility. For alcohol use disorder there is no waiting period, only a liver function check. Vivitrol is given as a monthly injection in our office.

Adults across Greater Boston and MetroWest come to Needham for MAT when cravings or withdrawal have made stopping on their own unworkable, when a previous attempt with therapy alone did not last, or when they need treatment they can keep up while working. Many are stepping down from a Boston-area detox or residential program and want the medication continued by a team that also runs their counseling. Some have been told by a court, a probation officer, an attorney or an employer to enter treatment. Tell admissions on the first call and the clinical team will plan the paperwork with you. Nothing about your treatment is shared with anyone without your written consent.

MAT is not the right first step for everyone. If withdrawal could be medically risky, a clinician will say so at your assessment and arrange detox first. If home is not a safe place right now, Day Treatment gives more support than an evening schedule can. The assessment exists to sort that out with you, plainly and without pressure.

Most Massachusetts plans cover medication-assisted treatment. Our Needham program works with Harvard Pilgrim, Mass General Brigham Health Plan, Optum, Point32Health, TRICARE, Tufts Health Plan, United Healthcare and VA Community Care, and more. MassHealth covers substance use treatment through its ACO and managed-care plans, and coverage at our Needham program depends on your specific MassHealth plan, so call and we confirm your benefits before your first visit. Massachusetts parity law requires most plans to cover medically necessary addiction treatment on par with other medical care. We are not in network with Medicare at this time. The counseling and medical visits are usually covered under your plan's behavioral health or medical benefit, the medication under the pharmacy benefit, and the monthly Vivitrol injection often under the medical benefit, sometimes with prior authorization. Admissions sorts all of that out with the carrier at no cost and explains any deductible or copay before you start. See Massachusetts insurance or how cost and payment work.