Speaker Name: Dr. Imran Ghauri
Session Description:
Opioid Agonist Therapy (OAT) prescribing in Canada is guided by a range of national and provincial recommendations. While these frameworks have contributed to important standardization, clinicians across practice settings have identified significant limitations in their scope and applicability to real‑world care. Existing guidance has not consistently addressed key environments such as correctional settings, has provided limited direction on emerging therapies including injectable buprenorphine, and has inadequately considered the needs of complex populations such as individuals with acquired brain injury and youth with opioid use disorder. In addition, prior recommendations have often emphasized patient preference without sufficient integration of clinical effectiveness, functional outcomes, and broader system‑level considerations.
In response, the Canadian Centre of Recovery Excellence (CoRE) convened a committee of experienced addiction medicine physicians representing community, hospital, detoxification, and correctional practice environments from across Canada. The objective was to develop comprehensive, evidence‑informed, and practical guidance that reflects contemporary clinical realities and supports outcome‑oriented decision‑making for clinicians and their teams.
A structured Delphi consensus process was employed to systematically examine areas of uncertainty, variation, and emerging practice in OAT prescribing. Through iterative rounds of review and feedback, participants critically evaluated existing evidence, emerging innovations, and domains where formal evidence was limited but clinical experience substantial. Consensus was achieved across key domains, including treatment initiation, transitions of care, novel formulations, special populations, and patient‑centered approaches grounded in measurable clinical outcomes.
This presentation will outline the rationale and methodology of the Delphi process, review the OAT treatment recommendations contained within the new guidelines, and discuss implications for improving consistency, supporting evidence‑informed clinical decision‑making, and strengthening quality of care across addiction medicine systems in Canada.
Learning Objectives:
New and innovative OAT treatment
Challenging current treatment regimens and metrics
Providing Practiced based guidance
BIO
Dr Imran Ghauri has worked in Emergency Medicine and Addiction Medicine in both the UK and Canada and along with his leadership role with Recovery Alberta works in VODP and the provincial corrections setting.
Dr. Yu is a clinical assistant professor with the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Calgary. Clinically, he works as an addiction specialist at Renfrew Recovery Center, Claresholm Center for Mental Health and Addictions, ODP Calgary/VODP. He is the provincial medical director for outpatient addiction services in Recovery Alberta.