By OPEN MINDS Circle
Bicycle Health, which provides virtual opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment in 24 states, has new contracts with three Medicaid managed care organizations (MCOs) in two states. In Michigan, Bicycle Health is in-network with Molina Healthcare and McLaren Health Plans. In Arizona Bicycle Health is in-network with UHC Community Plan.
The company has not provided specific details about the individual contracts. A Bicycle Health spokesperson said the contracts are reimbursed using bundled payment arrangements that cover medication management, behavioral health, recovery coaching, case management, and at-home drug testing. Bicycle Health expects to use value-based agreements with upside and downside risk. It will report on a range of data points including retention, participation, no-show rates, and quality improvement. Some contracts have performance incentives currently in place.
Bicycle Health will conduct online outreach to connect with health plan members, who will be able to self-refer to treatment. Additionally, Bicycle Health partnership teams will work MCO population health and member engagement departments on education and outreach plans. The company will also engage medical and behavioral health providers at community touchpoints to refer their consumers to Bicycle Health for OUD treatment. The MCO members will not need prior authorization to enroll in Bicycle Health.
The Bicycle Health virtual treatment platform includes physician visits, lab tests, instant messaging, counseling, care navigation, and online support groups. Its clinical professionals prescribe buprenorphine. The prescriptions are filled by pharmacies near the consumer. Across its 24-state territory, over 15,000 people have used Bicycle Health services.
In addition to accepting Medicaid through the three MCOs, Bicycle Health accepts Medicare, UnitedHealthcare, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Anthem, and Aetna in most states, and additional private insurances in California. Bicycle Health also has a direct-to-consumer option that costs $199 per month for physician services and online support, with extra costs ranging from $0 to $150 per month for medication. Most insurers cover the medication costs. Bicycle Health created a pharmacy finder tool so that its clinical staff can refer consumers to a nearby pharmacy with buprenorphine in-stock.
A recent evaluation of the company’s model found that 30-day retention rates are 75% for all consumers (insured and self-pay) and 86% for insured consumers, which is higher than the industry average of 69%. Bicycle Health’s 90-day retention rate is 59% for all consumers and 80% for insured consumers, compared to the industry average of 44%. About half of those treated by Bicycle Health’s virtual program are still in recovery at six months. No-show rates for Bicycle Health are lower than industry averages, at 9.5% compared to 23%.
About 70% of newly enrolled consumers are seen the same or next day by a treatment professional with a waiver to prescribe buprenorphine. With the pharmacy finder tool, the clinical staff can improve access to buprenorphine by referring consumers to a pharmacy 75% of the time, compared to 40% of the time before the tool was developed.
The findings were reported in “A Collaborative, Patient-Centered Care Model that Provides Tech-Enabled Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder via Telehealth” by Rebekah Rollston, Winifred Gallogly, Liza Hoffman, and colleagues. The researchers conducted a literature review and analyzed data from Bicycle Health.
Bicycle Health was founded in 2017 as a clinic in Redwood City, California. The company launched its virtual care platform in 2020. The Bicycle Health virtual treatment program is now available in 23 states (Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming). It plans to launch operations in Massachusetts.
For more information, contact: LuAnn Aakhus, Chief Operating Officer, Bicycle Health, 68 Harrison Avenue, Floor 6, Boston, Massachusetts 2111; 844-943-2514; Fax: 844-943-0129; Email: info@bicyclehealth.com; Website: https://www.bicyclehealth.com/
For more information about the research findings, contact: Rebekah Rollston, M.D., Ph.D., Research and Development, Bicycle Health Inc., 68 Harrison Avenue, Suite 600, Boston, Massachusetts 02111-1995; 844-943-2514; Email: rebekah@bicyclehealth.com; Website: https://www.bicyclehealth.com/