Usability Testing for the Reward-based Technology to Improve OUD Treatment

Summary

Millions of people in the US misuse opioids each year, leading to thousands of deaths and costing billions of dollars in total economic burden. Medication assisted treatment (MAT) for opioid use disorder (OUD) is highly efficacious, but only a fraction of OUD persons access MAT, and treatment non-adherence is common and associated with poor outcomes. This STTR Fast Track proposal is designed to increase rates of Suboxone (buprenorphine/naloxone) treatment initiation and adherence among OUD patients recruited from emergency and inpatient acute care. To accomplish these aims, the project will enhance the Opioid Addiction Recovery Support (OARS), an existing Q2i company technology, with a new evidence-based reward, contingency management (CM) function. CM interventions systematically reward (reinforce) specific behaviors like treatment initiation and adherence with therapy attendance and drug-free urine tests and are highly efficacious. An OARS solution enhanced with a CM component (OARSCM) that allows for the automatic calculation, delivery, and redemption of rewards contingent on objective evidence of treatment behaviors may be key to improving Suboxone initiation and adherence. In Phase 1 of this proposal, the existing OARS clinician portal and patient mobile application will be modified to accommodate entry into the software system from an acute care setting and to automatically manage and deliver rewards to create OARSCM using patient-centered design principles. Focus groups with OUD patients and other key stakeholders will inform design. Primary usability outcomes will be examined, and the program iteratively updated. After meeting milestones, there was a proof-of-concept pilot of usability, acceptability, and effects on initial behavior targets with approximately 20 patients and at least 4 providers.

Conditions

• Opioid-use Disorder
• Contingency Management
• Medication for Opioid-use Disorder

Interventions

OTHER

Software Application

Access is granted to participants for 4 weeks to the OARSCM platform which includes reinforcements for meeting MOUD treatment goals.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Massachusetts, Worcester

  collaborator OTHER

• National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

  collaborator NIH

• Q2i, LLC

  lead INDUSTRY

Principal Investigators

• Rachel Davis-Martin, PhD · University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School

Study Design

Allocation

NA

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Model

SINGLE_GROUP

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2020-07-01

Primary Completion

2021-03-01

Completion

2021-03-01

Countries

• United States

Study Locations