The COVID-19 pandemic catalyzed a speedy and essential transformation within the supply of healthcare providers, particularly for weak populations with opioid use dysfunction (OUD). Regulatory flexibilities launched through the early months of the pandemic permitted telehealth-based initiation and upkeep of buprenorphine therapy with out the requirement for an in-person go to. These modifications created a novel pure experiment to evaluate whether or not distant care may keep and even enhance affected person outcomes in habit therapy.
A 2025 examine by Winters and Walter¹ offers compelling proof that telehealth not solely expanded entry to buprenorphine, but additionally considerably improved retention in care—arguably crucial predictor of restoration and lowered overdose threat. Of their retrospective cohort examine of sufferers with OUD at a big federally certified well being middle (FQHC), sufferers who had no less than one telehealth go to had been thrice extra more likely to obtain buprenorphine than these with out telehealth entry (OR = 3.2, CI: 2.1–5.0). Amongst those that initiated therapy, sufferers with telehealth publicity had practically twice the retention in buprenorphine care (common 6.8 months vs. 3.7 months; HR = 2.7, CI: 1.8–3.9). These findings validate the utility of distant engagement methods in bettering OUD therapy adherence and outcomes.
Though this examine targeted on telehealth by way of synchronous video or audio encounters, it has essential implications for the rising discipline of digital well being, significantly Distant Therapeutic Monitoring (RTM) platforms designed to maintain engagement and monitor medicine adherence between scientific encounters. RTM leverages patient-reported information—reminiscent of temper, medicine adherence, cravings, and withdrawal signs—collected by way of cellular apps or linked units. This info can be utilized to tailor interventions in actual time, help adherence to medicine for opioid use dysfunction (MOUD), and notify suppliers of potential relapse dangers.
What the Winters and Walter examine illustrates is that sustaining a constant reference to sufferers outdoors conventional workplace settings is a strong mechanism to enhance retention. RTM platforms take this a step additional by embedding every day monitoring and asynchronous communication into sufferers’ lives, offering a type of “digital tethering” that promotes accountability and provides clinicians early indicators when intervention is required. Whereas the authors didn’t study RTM explicitly, their findings counsel that any modality enabling sustained contact, particularly when obstacles to in-person care exist, can considerably improve retention and outcomes.
Certainly, rising proof helps the effectiveness of digital interventions in continual illness administration extra broadly. In diabetes, hypertension, and despair, distant monitoring instruments have been proven to extend medicine adherence, scale back hospitalizations, and enhance self-efficacy. The identical rules apply to OUD: adherence to buprenorphine or different MOUD is straight correlated with lowered illicit opioid use, decrease overdose threat, and improved social and occupational functioning. Digital well being platforms that seize and reply to behavioral information can reinforce adherence patterns and deal with lapses early.
Furthermore, the advantages of RTM are more likely to prolong to different continual diseases the place medicine adherence is strongly linked to scientific outcomes. For instance, people with continual ache—particularly these on long-term pharmacotherapy—typically expertise challenges associated to adherence, dosing consistency, and useful monitoring. RTM platforms that observe symptom fluctuations, ache severity, medicine utilization, and exercise ranges can facilitate extra personalised and responsive care. By figuring out developments and offering well timed interventions, RTM has the potential to enhance each the security and effectiveness of continual ache administration, simply because it does for OUD. The identical framework could possibly be tailored to different situations requiring ongoing therapeutic adherence and behavioral engagement, reminiscent of bronchial asthma, coronary heart failure, or migraine.
RTM additionally fills a essential hole in continuity of care. Sufferers with OUD typically face logistical, monetary, and social obstacles to attending frequent in-person appointments. This may be very true in rural areas, carceral programs, or amongst populations experiencing homelessness. RTM permits for steady engagement with out requiring fixed bodily presence, making it a scalable and equitable answer.
Skeptics might argue that mHealth options and RTM platforms threat widening disparities in the event that they rely upon smartphone entry, digital literacy, or broadband infrastructure. Nonetheless, research performed through the COVID-19 pandemic confirmed that even audio-only telehealth had vital advantages for buprenorphine retention, significantly amongst high-risk populations. This underscores the significance of designing RTM instruments which might be accessible throughout expertise platforms and adaptable to sufferers with low digital proficiency.
The coverage panorama can also be starting to acknowledge the potential of RTM. The Facilities for Medicare & Medicaid Providers (CMS) has accredited CPT codes for RTM that enable reimbursement for monitoring of musculoskeletal ache, respiratory situations, and adherence to therapeutic regimens—an essential step towards sustainability of digital well being in habit drugs and different continual care domains.
In conclusion, the examine by Winters and Walter (2025) offers sturdy empirical help for the precept that distant engagement improves OUD therapy outcomes. Whereas their analysis centered on telehealth visits, the implications prolong to RTM and different mHealth methods that preserve sufferers engaged between appointments. Digital instruments that foster ongoing contact, observe adherence, and provide personalised suggestions maintain nice promise in addressing one of the crucial essential challenges in habit drugs: sustaining sufferers in therapy lengthy sufficient to realize stability and restoration. Policymakers, clinicians, and payers ought to prioritize the mixing and equitable enlargement of RTM platforms as a part of a broader effort to modernize care for people with opioid use dysfunction—and different continual well being situations that depend on adherence and behavioral change for profitable outcomes.
About Dan Cohen
Dan Cohen, President and Cofounder of Adhere+, has over 40 years of management expertise in authorities, healthcare, and enterprise. He has constructed and led profitable startups that improve medical applied sciences and enhance affected person outcomes. With experience in finance, mergers, and product growth, Cohen focuses on advancing Distant Therapeutic Monitoring (RTM) options that assist suppliers enhance care plan adherence and compliance.
References
- Winters, Ann MD, MPH; Walter, Eve PhD. The Influence of Telehealth on Buprenorphine Prescribing at a Giant Federally Certified Well being Middle Throughout COVID-19. Journal of Habit Drugs 19(3):p 331-333, Could/June 2025. | DOI: 10.1097/ADM.0000000000001397
