Characterizing the Clinical use of a Novel Video-assisted Dosing Protocol With Secure Medication Dispensers to Reduce Barriers to Opioid Treatment

Distance and travel costs to opioid treatment programs (OTPs), especially in rural communities, are barriers to treatment for opioid use disorder. Retention rates at 12 months in our OTP are 55% (range 53%-61%).We piloted a novel treatment platform utilizing a video directly observed therapy (VDOT) smartphone app and a secure medication dispenser to support adherence with take-home doses of methadone or buprenorphine while enabling patients to maintain prosocial activities, reduce time and cost of travel, and increase retention.

Participants (n¼58) were adults in a Vermont OTP. Inclusion criteria included travel hardship, access to Wi-Fi or cellular network, and having an iPhone 4S or Android 4.0 or greater. Patients received a dispenser, VDOT app, clinic dispensed medication, counseling, and urine drug testing. Chart reviews assessed VDOT compliance, engagement in prosocial activities, travel costs and time savings, and treatment disposition/retention. Project-associated costs were examined.

Of the 15,831 expected videos, 15,581 (98.4%) were received and only 10 (0.063%) showed signs of medication noncompliance with 1 (0.0064%) showing an overt attempt at diversion. About 93% of participants engaged in prosocial activities, travel time and costs were reduced 86%, median cost saved $72 weekly, median travel time saved 5.5 hours weekly and 98% of participants were in treatment 12 months later.

VDOT participants using dispensers showed high levels of medication ingestion integrity, had favorable clinical stability, and lower travel time and costs. These findings suggest that using VDOT with dispensers may hold promise as an innovative platform for supporting medication adherence.