Q&A: Telehealth’s role in combating the opioid epidemic

by | Jul 16, 2022 | Health Blog | 0 comments

[ad_1]

Within the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. drug overdose deaths have surged. The CDC estimates that greater than 107,000 individuals died in 2021, a rise of practically 15% from the greater than 93,000 deaths in 2020. 

However the pandemic additionally has introduced a sudden enhance in telehealth utilization. Regulations surrounding telehealth prescriptions of managed substances have been loosened throughout the public well being emergency, permitting for suppliers and startups to supply medication-assisted therapy like buprenorphine for opioid use dysfunction. 

A type of firms, Bicycle Health provides digital care in addition to prescriptions for medicine. CEO and founder Ankit Gupta and Medical Director Dr. Brian Clear sat down with MobiHealthNews to debate the therapy panorama for sufferers scuffling with opioid use dysfunction and the startup’s current $50 million Series B raise

MobiHealthNews: Why do you suppose that telemedicine works properly for this inhabitants?

Dr. Brian Clear: It’s all about entry. So, we all know that solely one in 10 patients with a substance use dysfunction is definitely getting therapy up to now yr. There are numerous causes for that, principally surrounding geographic entry. Forty percent of counties in the US do not also have a supplier who’s registered to offer you buprenorphine for opioid use dysfunction. 

There’s additionally stigma. Particularly in cities the place individuals of their well being system or their neighbors know who they’re, sufferers are reluctant to indicate up at these applications, that are licensed licensed applications for habit specialty care, and it is identified that these applications supply habit specialty care.

In our program, we discover that 30% of sufferers reaching out to us have by no means been identified with opioid use dysfunction earlier than and have by no means accessed look after opioid use dysfunction earlier than, which is admittedly outstanding. Which means we’re interesting to individuals who in any other case do not entry every other degree of care. We’re lastly breaking that cycle of simply serving the identical small, tiny subpopulation of sufferers over and over.

Ankit Gupta: Yeah, and I am going to provide you with an instance. There is a new regulation in Alabama that went dwell just lately, the place an in-person examination is required throughout the final 12 months to prescribe a managed substance. We, for the final virtually two months, had a complete process power working tirelessly to assist our a whole bunch of sufferers discover native suppliers in Alabama. 

In spite of everything of that effort, we nonetheless discovered that lower than 20% of sufferers really discovered an area supplier. It is as a result of the suppliers weren’t obtainable. They weren’t inexpensive. There was numerous stigma like Brian talked about. We have had stories the place sufferers do not wish to be seen strolling into clinics; they do not wish to have their automotive parked exterior. So, we have been in dire straits. 

We needed to actually fly a few suppliers to Alabama and spend per week there simply to adjust to the regulation in order that we will proceed taking good care of the sufferers we now have. We’re not enrolling any new sufferers, however to proceed taking good care of the sufferers we now have, till we discover a appropriate choice for them on the bottom. And so, there’s only a large, large lack of entry. 

MHN: There was an increase in overdose deaths over the previous few years. What have you ever heard from sufferers about their experiences accessing care?

Clear: It is at all times been dismal, and entry has not gotten worse over the previous two years. What has occurred is that fentanyl is now current virtually universally within the illicit drug provide. So, sufferers who’re utilizing illicit opioids are more likely to overdose than they ever have been up to now. 

COVID stored individuals of their properties for a really very long time and made individuals much more reluctant to entry the sources that have been already very restricted. Now, I feel we’re beginning to get previous that, and persons are returning to extra regular lives. So, I can not say that COVID restrictions are maintaining individuals out of care anymore. 

However we’re now in a spot the place it is not simply fentanyl; it is new analogues of fentanyl — which are much more potent — which are within the illicit drug provide. 

Gupta: We sent a survey to sufferers about 4 or 5 months in the past. There have been about 1,000 sufferers, and we requested them many questions, considered one of which was about their outlook on restoration and habit therapy throughout COVID. 

And what we discovered was fairly totally different from the narrative on the market. We discovered that 77% of our sufferers mentioned that the pandemic has not made sustaining or reaching restoration tougher. In reality, 42% mentioned that it has made it simpler. So, once more, it goes to indicate how telehealth can actually enhance entry.

MHN: Bicycle Well being just lately raised a $50 million Sequence B. How do you intend to make use of that funding?

Gupta: To this point, we now have been fairly profitable at reaching sufferers; we have served over 17,000 sufferers to this point throughout 26 states. However we’re nonetheless getting began. 

We’ll use this funding to proceed rising entry to opioid use dysfunction therapy. That features hiring medical suppliers to have the ability to develop the capability to see sufferers, constructing our know-how that helps us each ship the care in addition to improve the standard of care by way of information analytics and affected person engagement instruments that we have constructed in-house by way of our randomized at-home drug testing program.

We have additionally been fairly profitable at partnering with well being plans. We’re seeing robust demand, each from industrial in addition to from Medicaid managed care plans, to each improve entry by lowering price of this affected person inhabitants. So, we’re investing in rising these partnerships. 

We have now began receiving inbound curiosity from suppliers who wish to work with us, both referring sufferers to us or co-managing sufferers. We wish to use the funding to additionally improve our partnerships with medical suppliers, case managers, discharge planners, particularly within the correctional well being setting but additionally with employers to succeed in sufferers.

[ad_2]

Source link

My Nutrition Blog

Get My Free 3 Day Meal Plan!

Curabitur non nulla sit amet nisl tempus convallis quis ac lectus. Cras ultricies ligula sed magna dictum porta. Curabitur non nulla sit amet nisl tempus convallis quis ac lectus. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia

We’re In this Together

Get a Free Diet Consultation

Nulla quis lorem ut libero malesuada feugiat. Mauris blandit aliquet elit, eget tincidunt nibh pulvinar a. Vivamus suscipit tortor eget felis porttitor volutpat. Pellentesque in ipsum id orci porta dapibus. Pellentesque in ipsum id orci porta dapibus. Donec sollicitudin molestie malesuada.

Easy Home Recipes

Virtual Workout Sessions

Nulla quis lorem ut libero malesuada feugiat. Mauris blandit aliquet elit, eget tincidunt nibh pulvinar a. Vivamus suscipit tortor eget felis porttitor volutpat. Pellentesque in ipsum id orci porta dapibus. Pellentesque in ipsum id orci porta dapibus. Donec sollicitudin molestie malesuada. 

Phone

(135) 236-7563

Email

info@dividietitian.com

Address

1234 Divi St. #1000 San Francisco, CA 33945