Everything to know about telehealth addiction treatment

There is a large and growing body of evidence supporting the effectiveness of medication for addiction treatment (MAT) and of telemedicine. Below is a brief look at the research, some pros and cons of telehealth MAT, and a comparison of telehealth addiction treatment vs inpatient care. 

Research in support of MAT

The goal of medication for addiction treatment is to lead a person to long-term recovery, including the ability to live a self-directed life. There are numerous studies to support the effectiveness of MAT. According to SAMHSA, this treatment approach:

• Improves patient survival
• Increases retention in treatment
• Decreases illicit opioid use and other criminal activities among people with substance use disorders
• Increases patients’ ability to gain and maintain employment
• Improves birth outcomes among pregnant women with substance use disorders

Research shows that MAT is a far more successful treatment of opioid use disorder (than alternatives), resulting in less likelihood of overdoses

Telemedicine for addiction treatment

Telehealth using web-based psychotherapy for substance use disorders and mental health is a rapidly expanding model of healthcare that is supported by numerous research studies.

Research shows that the use of telemedicine technologies—texting, videoconferencing, mobile apps, web-based supports, telephone supports, and the use of virtual interaction—demonstrated superior outcomes compared to traditional care

However, there are limitations to telemedicine for addiction treatment. The majority of platforms don’t focus on the goal of the individual, which may fall within a range of harm reduction goals from abstinence to moderation. Instead, they focus only on abstinence when evidence shows, unequivocally, that medication-assisted treatment is a successful pathway of recovery for opioid use disorder. It’s this lack of personalization that makes telemedicine for addiction treatment limited in potential.

In contrast, Workit Health delivers personalized behavioral health support to individuals in varying stages of opioid use disorder. We know that psychotherapy is a generally effective addition to MAT, especially if the approaches are tailored and flexible.

Workit learnings and results

At Workit Health, we strive to measure outcomes to ensure safety for medication users and improve the quality of our program. Our most recent study demonstrated improved clinical outcomes over traditional care models.

We found that Workit provides these benefits:

• It reaches a diverse population across a variety of ages, genders, geographic locations, and socioeconomic backgrounds.
• Patients quickly reduce the use of their substance of choice.
• Patients are more likely to remain in our program because Workit overcomes many barriers to care.
• Workit’s harm reduction model leads to a higher rate of truthful self-reports of use.
• Workit members rarely leave our offering for other providers of methods of care.
• Workit members report an improvement in quality of life.

Pros and cons of telehealth addiction treatment

Telemedicine can be of great benefit to those seeking recovery support, but it’s normal to question whether it is right for you. Here are some of the pros and cons of telehealth MAT: