West Virginia Payer Adds mHealth Tools to Substance Abuse Treatment

West Virginia’s Blue Cross Blue Shield program is giving its members access to an mHealth program designed to improve treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD), particularly in rural areas where access to care is limited.

Highmark West Virginia, which serves roughly 325,000 members, is partnering with Bright Heart Health to offer the digital health service, which makes medication-assisted treatment (MAT) available on a connected health platform for people who can’t easily access in-person care.

"MAT therapy is considered the gold standard of care for opioid use disorder, but there are many MAT 'deserts' across West Virginia," Caesar DeLeo, MD, vice president and executive medical director of strategic initiatives for Highmark, said in a press release. "In these areas, patients have extremely limited access to evidence-based OUD treatment and may face significant wait times or transportation challenges. Clinicians are overextended. Through this program, we will be able to partner with clinicians so that our members receive the kind of comprehensive, accessible OUD treatment that puts them on a path to long-term recovery."

With substance abuse at epidemic levels across the US and access to in-person care limited, especially in rural areas, health systems and community health clinics are turning to telehealth to expand their reach and make access easier for both those dealing with substance abuse and the rural care providers working with them.

In several instances, large and academic health systems are developing Project ECHO telemedicine platforms to connect remote outlying providers with specialists and experts for education and peer support. Care providers are also putting MAT therapy programs online, giving providers and patients an opportunity to collaborate via phone, tablet, laptop or PC.

Last month, Highmark announced a collaboration with Shatterproof, a national non-profit focused on addiction treatment, to make interactive education programs and advocacy tools available online to members in Highmark’s West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Delaware markets.