Submitted to the School of Nursing and Health Professions of Colorado Christian University Lakewood, Colorado in partial fulfillment of the requirements For the degree of DOCTOR OF NURSING PRACTICE Abstract: Background: Substance use disorder (SUD) is a mental health disease affecting the brain, causing behavior issues and inhibiting one's ability to control one's use of illegal and /or legal drugs. Office-based medication assisted treatment (OBMAT) programs are primarily used to treat addiction to opioids, with a combination of counseling and prescribed medications, decreasing the craving to abuse substances. A patient navigator may be instrumental in helping patients in OBMAT programs to improve life choices and achieve a healthy lifestyle. Purpose: The purpose of this evidence-based project was to examine the effect of a non-nurse patient navigator on outcomes of patients in an OBMAT program. The project manager looked for improvement in retention, compliance, and goal attainment with the implementation of a patient navigator. Methods: A retrospective chart review was used for data collection for the January 2021 to April 2021 patient group, which consisted of 28 new SUD patients. This group was compared to the January 2022 to April 2022 group with 34 patients utilizing the specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely (SMART) goals framework. The project was piloted at a family practice clinic in West Virginia that specialized in OBMAT treatment. Evaluation: Even though the use of non-nurse patient navigator was not found to be statistically significant based on the outcomes measured in this pilot study, it was noted to have some positive effects on patients within the program not otherwise anticipated, including improved accountability and engagement with treatment. The project should be repeated with a larger sample size over a longer time period with a nurse navigator. Keywords: Case manager, patient navigator, medicated assisted treatment (MAT), clinic, out-patient, SMART goals, substance use disorder (SUD), non-clinical