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Greenwich House

Piloting the Use of Home Health Aides in Methadone Treatment Programs

NYHealth awarded Greenwich House a grant to pilot a home health aide model for providing methadone maintenance to patients with opioid use disorder.

Special Projects Fund

Grantee Name

Greenwich House

Funding Area

Special Projects Fund

Publication Date

June 2025

Grant Amount

$221,835

Grant Date:

2022

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The opioid crisis continues to be a significant public health challenge. Overdose deaths in the United States more than doubled from 2015 to 2022, with opioid overdose declared a national public health emergency in 2017. During the COVID-19 pandemic, drug overdose deaths in the U.S. rose sharply, with New York City experiencing a record 2,000 deaths in 2020 alone. Until recently, methadone treatments —a proven, effective medication for opioid use disorder— were highly regulated and required patients to attend daily in-person visits at licensed methadone clinics. However, policies changed during the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing more flexible at-home options.   

Under this grant, Greenwich House trained home health aides (HHAs), who have personal experience with substance use and recovery, to provide biweekly visits to help eligible patients with opioid use disorder safely manage monthly methadone doses at home.  

Outcomes and Lessons Learned

  • Biweekly home visits: Home health aides visited 18 patients every two weeks to deliver methadone, monitor well-being, assist with daily living needs, and connect patients to mental health care through telehealth. 
  • Effective screening protocol: The participant screening process successfully identified patient service needs and is now fully integrated into all Greenwich House programs. 
  • Program evaluation showed the following key improvements:
    • 25% reduction in avoidable hospital admissions and emergency room visits.
    • 75% increase in adherence to medication and prescribed treatment
    • 10% reduction in total cost of care 

The project also discovered a few sustainability challenges. Existing reimbursement models do not cover travel time for home visits, and billing is limited to 15-minute increments, making it challenging to fund ongoing services. As a result, organizations may need to seek additional public or private funding to support and expand this type of patient-centered program.  

Co-Funding and Additional Grants Leveraged: N/A 

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