Mobile Health and Integrating Addiction Treatment into Primary Care: Research

Implementing a Mobile Health System to Integrate the Treatment of Addiction Into Primary Care: A Hybrid Implementation-Effectiveness Study

This study led by Andrew Quanbeck, PhD, explored the effectiveness of a mobile health system, SEVA, in integrating addiction treatment in primary care. Quanbeck shared some insights from the study in a quick interview:

How are the study results significant for people with substance use disorders?

“SUD is rarely treated in the primary care setting, even though it is a prevalent health condition that affects many patients seen in primary care. The study illustrates that mobile health technology can potentially be used to engage patients suffering from SUD in primary care without adding substantial burden on health care providers. “

How are the study results significant for use of technology to integrate health care? 

“Our results show that implementing an mHealth system can improve care among primary care patients with SUDs, and patients using the system can support one another in ways that are novel for primary care settings. On the technical front, a key challenge remains in determining whether and how mobile health data should be integrated into electronic health records.” 

Do you have plans for a follow-up study? 

“Yes. There has not been much implementation research on mHealth, and our experience has revealed important questions that warrant further research. In future research we are planning to examine different approaches to implementation that will shed light on the most cost-effective methods for integrating mobile health technology in primary care settings.”