A novel telehealth platform for alcohol use disorder treatment: preliminary evidence of reductions in drinking.

BACKGROUND

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) treatment remains greatly underutilized. Innovative strategies are needed to improve AUD treatment access and patient engagement. The Ria Treatment Platform (RTP) is a patient-centered telemedicine AUD treatment program accessed through a smartphone application (app) that includes a package of physician visits (with AUD prescriptions as appropriate), text- and phone-based support from a recovery coach, video monitoring of medication adherence, and Bluetooth-linked breathalyzer tracking of alcohol intake.

OBJECTIVES

The purpose of the current study is to examine changes in alcohol use among patients utilizing the RTP.

METHODS

This study examines daily breathalyzer blood alcohol content (BAC) readings collected from 77 adult patients (50.7% male) over the first 90 days in treatment with the RTP. Data were analyzed using dynamic structural equation modeling.

RESULTS

The treatment retention rate at 90 days was 55%. The best fit for the BAC data was given by a cubic curve, which showed that among patients who remained engaged for 90 days average BAC levels declined approximately 50% (from .091 to .045) from baseline to day 90.

CONCLUSION

This study provides preliminary evidence of substantial alcohol use reductions among patients utilizing the RTP, an innovative telemedicine program accessed via smartphone. Although other alcohol-reduction apps have shown promise from scientific evaluations, the RTP appears to be the only app that incorporates physician-prescribed medication and a recovery coach. Research incorporating random assignment and meaningful comparison groups is needed to further evaluate this promising strategy.