The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), a division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has awarded a research grant to measure the impact of transportation on health outcomes for those affected by opioid use disorder (OUD).
This NIH Roundtrip a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I grant will fund a study jointly conducted by patient transportation company Roundtrip, the University of Pennsylvania, Lyft, and Contra Costa Health Services to evaluate the impact of Roundtrip’s transportation coordination platform, predominantly leveraging Lyft’s rideshare service, on appointment show rates and patient satisfaction for those with OUD.
In order to combat the opioid epidemic, NIDA released a funding opportunity called the HEAL (Helping End Addiction Long-Term) Initiative, which calls for innovative approaches to address the national crisis. This opportunity specifically emphasized digital health technologies that expand access to medication and improve treatment retention, which aligns with Roundtrip’s mission of driving better health outcomes through transportation, especially given that an estimated 3.6 million Americans do not obtain medical care each year due to a lack of transportation, according to officials.
“For those affected by OUD, timely access to medical care and medication assistance therapy is instrumental in improving health outcomes. By providing an affordable, reliable, and timely medical transportation service, tailored to the needs of patients, transportation barriers can effectively be removed for OUD patients as they seek a path towards recovery,” they said.
As a part of the Phase I initiative, transportation, predominantly rideshare, will be coordinated through Roundtrip’s platform for patients that are screened for inclusion based on four criteria: 18 years of age or older, diagnosed with OUD, transportation insecurity, and actively enrolled in outpatient clinical treatment programs.
Additionally, randomized experimental and control cohorts will be compared to capture any differences in appointment show rates and the patient experience. The study will be conducted over 12 months, and rides will be provided primarily through Roundtrip’s direct integration with Lyft, a transportation network company. Roundtrip has a national partnership with Lyft for offering on-demand and scheduled curb-to-curb rides.
Following the Phase I study, Roundtrip said it plans on working with the University of Pennsylvania, Lyft, and NIDA to publish the results and apply for a larger scale study across multiple healthcare sites through a Phase II initiative.
“We are incredibly excited about the opportunity to work with the NIH and Roundtrip. This study builds on prior research we have conducted to understand the importance of transportation and how patients engage with health care,” said Krisda Chaiyachati, M.D., assistant professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine and a leading investigator in the study. “Especially with the opioid crisis spread across the country, innovations and partnerships are needed to explore how gaps in access to medication assisted treatment can be bridged, and we are looking forward to working with Roundtrip to explore how their technology solution might offer a meaningful impact for this epidemic.”
