Researchers Win NIH Grant to Treat Opioid Overuse Through Telehealth

Using a $1.1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), researchers from CUNY Graduate School of Public Health (CUNY SPH) and Yale School of Medicine plan to implement a telehealth platform that connects patients who have overdosed on opioids with medication, harm reduction services, and recovery support.

Recently, deaths related to drug overdose have increased in the US. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there was a 15 percent increase in drug overdose deaths in 2021 compared to 2020.

The NIH grant was awarded to CUNY SPH Associate Professor Nasim Sabounchi, PhD, and Yale School of Medicine Assistant Professor Rebekah Heckmann, MD. They will use it to implement an evidence-based intervention that connects patients with an opioid overdose history to various resources such as opioid use disorder medication, harm reduction assistance, and tools for recovery.

"There is a great need to expedite and facilitate access to medication for opioid use disorder and respond effectively to witnessed overdoses," said Sabounchi in a press release. "Our long-term goal is to implement these novel system dynamics modeling and telehealth strategies in Connecticut, with subsequent dissemination nationally, ultimately improving access to medication and reducing overdose events and fatalities."

The telehealth platform, which can be deployed at the site of an overdose or in the emergency department, will provide patients with access to providers who can prescribe the needed medications and provide other recovery services for high-risk individuals.

During the implementation process, researchers intended to simultaneously collect data that could assist them in determining the efficacy of this intervention and how it can be deployed more widely in the future.

Various efforts to expand access to treatment for opioid use disorder have been implemented in the recent past.

In May, the University of Virginia created a smartphone app to assist those battling opioid use disorders through accessible, remote care. Known as HOPE (Heal, Overcome, Persist, Endure), the app provides patients with a message board service that allows them to connect with care providers.

Research has also supported the idea that increased telehealth access improves opioid use disorder treatment.

A study published in August found that audio and video-based telehealth led to a reduction in treatment barriers among veterans battling opioid use disorder.

Another study published in September found that increases in telehealth use corresponded with a decline in opioid overdose risk amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Using data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, researchers collected information regarding demographics, substance use, and psychiatric comorbidities.

They then divided the data into two cohorts: one from a pre-pandemic period and another from a mid-pandemic period. They noticed that the mid-pandemic group who received care through telehealth had higher odds of remaining in programs providing medications for the disorder and a lower likelihood of medically treated overdoses.