Traditionally serving adults, virtual opioid use disorder service provider Bicycle Health launched a new program Tuesday for Maine teens.
Boston-based Bicycle Health offers addiction treatment medications, access to medical experts, therapy and peer support groups. It serves patients in 32 states and works with most major insurance plans, including UnitedHealthcare, Aetna and Blue Cross Blue Shield.
The company’s new teen virtual care program in Maine will serve teens ages 16 and up. They must be accompanied by a parent or responsible adult on their first visit. If they’re deemed eligible for care, they’ll have access to Bicycle’s clinical support, including medications for opioid use disorder, such as FDA-approved buprenorphine. The medication can help relieve withdrawal symptoms and reduce drug cravings.
Adolescent care will be tailored to each patient, said Dr. Brian Clear, Bicycle Health’s chief medical officer.
“Bicycle Health develops its care recommendations based on individual patient needs and current leading-edge addiction medicine guidelines and research,” Clear said in an email. “This will continue to be the case for patients ages 16 and 17 in this program, who will be treated according to the recommendations for adolescents with [opioid use disorder].”
Typically, teens with opioid use disorder are treated in a “stepwise approach,” with most starting treatment in abstinence-focused residential programs, according to Clear. However, these programs have a high rate of relapse. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends medications like buprenorphine to treat teens with severe opioid use disorder.
To measure the success of the new program in Maine, the company will look at enrollment rates, patient and provider feedback and patient retention. Bicycle Health also tracks these metrics for its adult population, Clear said.
Bicycle Health chose to launch the program in Maine because state providers informed the company of the need for this type of treatment, he noted. In 2019, 10% of Maine high school students reported misusing prescription pain medications. A 2023 survey found that about 5.2% of Maine high school students had taken a prescription medication without a doctor’s prescription in the past 30 days.
Clear added that the company plans to expand its teen services to other states.
“We hope this program will be a successful model that we can build on to continue to increase access for adolescents struggling with mental health issues. [opioid use disorder]”, Clear said.
Ultimately, treating Maine teens is “just another step” in Bicycle Health’s mission to combat the opioid epidemic, Clear said.
“Our goal with this program is to make safe and effective treatment for substance use disorder readily available to adolescents who need it,” he said. “Many adults struggling with this disorder today may see risky behaviors or addictive patterns that began in their youth; these problems may persist and worsen for years or decades before they are treated, but they can be treated at any age. We hope that programs like this, which help patients begin their recovery journey earlier, will help prevent the worst outcomes of substance use disorder for more people across the country.”
Other companies offering virtual addiction treatment services include Ophelia and Boulder Care. The latter also offers a program for teens. In January, Boulder announced it would offer telehealth and medication management services to eligible Washington teens covered by UnitedHealthcare Community Plan, a Medicaid plan.
Photo credit: Bohdan Skrypnyk, Getty Images
