Ombuds interventions for people in opioid use disorder treatment: a scoping review

Background Ombuds programs ensure patient safety and treatment quality. This scoping review focused on ombuds programs to improve opioid use disorder treatment.Methods A multi-step process following the PRISMA-ScR Checklist queried Embase, Google Scholar and Scopus databases for sources between 1990–2024 to identify ombuds programs focused on opioid use disorder treatment. Independent reviews were conducted by human and AI-assisted methods.Results Of 243 sources initially identified, 96.3% were retained for abstract review and 21.4% for full-text review. No sources addressed opioid use disorder treatment; however, several ombuds program models were identified and addressed relevant topics such as healthcare access (40.4%), long-term care (21.2%), and psychiatric treatment (9.8%). Ombuds program settings included external functioning government institutions, community organizations, or grass-roots volunteer-based organizations. Programs provided education, advice, referral, dispute resolution, audit, arbitration, and change advocacy. Only 26.4% of sources were studies, and they used methods of retrospective review of complaint data, interviews with ombuds persons, program peer review, complaint resolution analysis, case study, and satisfaction survey of ombuds program participants.Conclusion While current ombuds literature does not address opioid use disorder treatment, there is a wealth of insight to guide the development of ombuds programs for opioid use disorder. The impact of ombuds programs remains understudied. Rigorous methods should be employed to demonstrate intervention effectiveness.