DynamiCare Health Awarded $1 Million by Ohio for Combating Opioid Epidemic with Tech
Digital health platform improved patients’ recovery outcomes
BOSTON (August 27, 2019)– DynamiCare Health, a Massachusetts-based addiction recovery technology company, was awarded $1 million today by the Ohio Opioid Technology Challenge for the success of its innovative digital platform in supporting those with substance use disorder. DynamiCare won the competition’s top prize by demonstrating substantial positive outcomes for patients who used its technology—which automates an evidence-based methodology called contingency management that has been proven to be effective in reducing substance use.
For the challenge, DynamiCare partnered with BrightView, the largest addiction treatment system in Ohio, to integrate its digital platform into a clinical outpatient care center in Cincinnati. After just four months, those who used DynamiCare were nearly twice as likely to test negative for illicit drug use compared to those in standard treatment. Patients who used the platform also had higher appointment attendance, reported high satisfaction with how the platform supported them through their treatment, and demonstrated high engagement as measured by the time they spent interacting with the app.
“Ohio is one of the states hit hardest by the opioid epidemic and we applaud its commitment to addressing the issue head on,” said Eric Gastfriend, CEO and co-founder of DynamiCare Health. “We thank the Ohio Opioid Technology Challenge for recognizing the important work we’ve done with BrightView to support patients through their recovery. Our pilot program is only the beginning—we’re looking forward to bringing our solution to more people across the state and the country in the near future.”
Launched in October of 2017, the Ohio Opioid Technology Challenge was a three-phase, prize-based competition that leveraged $8 million to advance new technology-based solutions to help combat the opioid epidemic. DynamiCare used the $200,000 award given to the company in the second phase of the challenge to partner with BrightView to complete four major initiatives—including making cognitive-behavioral therapy content accessible through the platform, integrating contingency management into routine care, improving and measuring outcomes, and improving its provider dashboard and analytics.
“Partnering with DynamiCare has provided our patients with an invaluable tool that helps them achieve success in their addiction recovery, and we couldn’t be happier with the results,” said Shawn Ryan, MD, president and chief medical officer at BrightView. “We look forward to continuing our work with the DynamiCare team to improve patient outcomes at our treatment centers throughout the state.”
DynamiCare has already launched a second program at a BrightView clinic in Toledo and plans to use this latest funding to drive provider adoption of the platform across the country, secure contracts with public and private payers to help ensure more Americans have access to their recovery tool, and continue improving its platform and coaching program.
DynamiCare Health
DynamiCare Health is a technology platform for addressing substance use and rewarding healthy behavior. The platform automates Contingency Management, an evidence-based methodology that has been demonstrated to be effective in over 100 randomized controlled trials. Through encouragement and accountability, DynamiCare members achieve healthy goals with drugs, opioids, alcohol and tobacco. DynamiCare Health was founded in 2016 by Eric Gastfriend, Harvard MBA tech executive, and his father, David R. Gastfriend, MD, an international expert in addiction psychiatry. For more information, visit www.dynamicarehealth.com.
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Thy-Ann Nguyen
CURA Strategies
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