Pelago, a digital clinic for substance use therapy, launched a contingency administration program, during which members are rewarded for wholesome behaviors like participating in therapy, the corporate introduced Tuesday.
New York Metropolis-based Pelago serves employers and well being plans and helps members battling tobacco, alcohol and opioids. It offers behavioral remedy and medication-assisted therapy applications. The corporate serves sufferers in all 50 states.
Its new contingency administration program is beginning with seven prospects and can help these battling alcohol use dysfunction, although the corporate plans to increase to further purchasers and different substances sooner or later. Sufferers will obtain a Pelatoken for attaining sure targets, akin to finishing a survey, finishing app check-ins, attending appointments and finishing cognitive behavioral remedy workouts. Every Pelatoken equals one U.S. greenback, and the rewards might be redeemed as Amazon reward playing cards.
“Pelago has created its personal Contingency Administration program as a way to overcome one of many best limitations to therapy success: engagement and retention in evidence-based care,” stated Dr. Suzette Glasner, chief scientific officer at Pelago and Ph.D. UCLA researcher, in an e-mail. “By rewarding engagement and growing motivation to maintain involvement with therapy, we’re taking an empirically validated strategy to fixing for this third barrier.”
To trace the success of the brand new program, Pelago’s purchasers will present anonymized claims information. The corporate will examine those that acquired contingency administration to those that didn’t obtain contingency administration (however nonetheless acquired Pelago’s substance use administration companies). These comparisons can be primarily based on three medical end result domains: engagement, retention and substance use, Glasner stated.
In line with the U.S. Division of Well being and Human Providers, contingency administration for the therapy of substance-use problems is confirmed to be efficient however is underutilized. Glasner stated that is partially due to the “stigma and misconceptions that encompass [substance use disorders] normally, together with that it’s attributable to an absence of self management, legal tendencies, or disgrace that usually accompanies somebody with a [substance use disorder].” Nonetheless, broader use of contingency administration could also be wanted, with 37.5 million U.S. employees unable to obtain profitable substance use therapy.
One other firm that makes use of contingency administration for substance use dysfunction is DynamiCare. Nonetheless, Pelago claims to be the “first nationwide digital substance use administration supplier to supply contingency administration.”
In launching the contingency administration program, Pelago goals to optimize its companies and “reward these behaviors probably to enhance motivation, engagement, and retention in therapy, thereby bettering well being outcomes of its members,” Glasner stated.
The launch of this system follows the corporate’s $58 million Sequence C funding spherical that was introduced on the finish of March. The spherical was led by Atomico and included participation from Kinnevik AB, Octopus Ventures, Y Combinator, Eight Roads and GreyMatter Capital.
Photograph: fizkes, Getty Pictures
