Addiction

Let's talk about something taboo - Addiction

September is National Recovery Month so let's talk about the commonplace issue of substance abuse and addiction.

In 2018, 20.3 million Americans suffered from a substance use disorder (SUD) and only one in ten people with SUD will receive treatment of any kind. Of those whose who get treatment, 40–60% of individuals in recovery will have an episode of return to drug use (or relapse), with rates for some reported as high as 91%.

More recently, opioid overdose has been called a "modern plague" and is the leading cause of death of Americans under age 50. Opioid overdose deaths, in particular, are rising faster for Black, Latino, and American Indian and Alaska Native populations. And with pre-existing barriers to accessing health services faced by these communities, health inequities are likely to play an important role in determining who benefits from advancements in addiction care.

Excitingly, addiction medicine research has examined how digital health may enhance our understanding and treatment of addiction. Research shows 40% of people who know they have a substance problem are not ready to stop using but digital apps could provide an easy on-ramp, ultimately guiding them to the appropriate intervention.

Digital tools for addiction treatment include everything from mobile apps to virtual sobriety coaches and health-monitoring devices. These tools can both expand traditional substance abuse treatments and create new opportunities for help. Relapse prevention is one of the primary focuses of digital tools in addiction treatment at the moment.

Addiction care providers are also advocating for the use of digital tools to help decentralize their programs and access real-time measurements to inform responsive, in-the-moment interventions to help prevent and treat substance use disorder. With a more self-controlled, personalized model of care, the hope is that people will be less likely to quit treatment early.

Overall, addiction tech entrepreneurs are looking at a $42 billion U.S. market for new products and an addiction treatment field ripe for disruption. This disruption couldn't come any sooner.

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In the News

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US government lets digital health company pay drug users to stay clean

Becker's Hospital Review

These Two Founders In Recovery Raised $118 Million For Their Virtual Addiction Treatment Startup

Forbes

Substance use disorder coverage would only slightly increase Medicare spending

Healthcare Finance

In 2020, there were 61.5 million Medicare beneficiaries, and an analysis of data from the National Survey of Drug Use and Health found that about 3% of Medicare beneficiaries (1.7 million) had a substance use disorder in the past year.

Yet only 11% of Medicare beneficiaries with SUD received treatment in any given year. Among Medicare beneficiaries who wanted SUD treatment, the main reasons they didn't receive it were a lack of SUD insurance coverage and that they could not afford treatment.

How segregated payments keep comprehensive substance use disorder care out of reach

Fierce Healthcare

Research to Move Policy--Using Evidence to Advance Heatlh Equity for Substance Use Disorders

The New England Journal of Medicine

Payer Partnership Aims to Increase Virtual Opioid Use Disorder Resources

mHealth Intelligence