A study by UT Health San Antonio reveals that combining medication for opioid use disorder with a smartphone app reduces opioid use by 35% and lengthens treatment by nearly 19%, offering a promising new tool for recovery.
Patients with opioid use disorder can greatly benefit from a smartphone app that support srecovery and extends treatment duration, according to a new study by The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UT Health San Antonio).
The robust research revealed that patients who used the app alongside medication saw a significant 35% drop in opioid use days and stayed in treatment nearly 19% longer than those relying solely on medication.
“These findings suggest that augmenting medication for opioid use disorder with app-based contingency management may provide clinical benefits for underserved patients,” lead author Elise Marino, Ph.D., the director of research operations at UT Health San Antonio’s Be Well Institute on Substance Use and Related Disorders, said in a news release. “Expanding the availability of app-based contingency management may contribute to decreasing the immense societal, economic and personal burden of opioid use.”
The study, published in JAMA Network Open, involved 600 underserved patients in a retrospective cohort analysis, tracking the impact of integrating the WEconnect Health CM smartphone app with medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) from November 2020 to November 2023.
The app not only incentivizes patients to achieve substance-related recovery milestones through financial rewards but also supports broader wellness goals, such as attending Narcotics Anonymous meetings, exercising or engaging in personal hobbies.
Additionally, it fosters community support with 1-to-1 peer interactions and remote meetings led by certified peers — making the digital therapy accessible beyond standard clinic times and locations.
The study underscores the persistent national crisis of opioid use disorder, which imposes an annual cost of nearly $969 billion in the United States. Medication like methadone, buprenorphine and naltrexone (MOUD) remains the sole evidence-backed treatment but often needs augmentation.
Contingency management (CM) offered in clinical settings has proven beneficial; however, barriers like infrequent in-person visits, exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic, necessitate innovative solutions such as telehealth and apps.
The cohort study reported marked improvements for app users—those who augmented MOUD with the app experienced an average of 8.4 days of opioid use at treatment completion versus 12 days for those on medication alone.
Treatment retention averaged 290.2 days for app-enhanced therapy compared to 236.1 days for traditional MOUD.
“These results are promising, and they highlight the potential importance of a patient’s decision to use app-based CM,” the researchers concluded. “Despite the challenges of engaging patients in other app-based interventions, adding recovery-oriented, app-based CM may be one way to enhance clinical care and meet the growing needs of historically underserved patients taking MOUD.”