Pelago, a virtual substance use treatment clinic, has launched a contingency management program that rewards members for healthy behaviors such as attending treatment, the company announced Tuesday.
Based in New York City, Pelago serves employers and health plans and supports members struggling with tobacco, alcohol and opioids. It offers behavioral therapy and medication-assisted treatment programs. The company serves patients in all 50 states.
The new emergency management program will begin with seven clients and will support those struggling with alcohol issues. However, the company plans to expand to more customers and other substances in the future. Patients receive a pelatoken for achieving specific goals, such as completing a survey, completing app check-ins, attending appointments and completing cognitive behavioral therapy exercises. Each Pelatoken is equivalent to one US dollar and the rewards can be redeemed as Amazon gift cards.
“Pelago has developed a proprietary emergency management program to address one of the biggest barriers to treatment success: engagement and retention in evidence-based care,” said Dr. Suzette Glasner, scientific director at Pelago and Ph.D. UCLA researchers, in an email. “By rewarding engagement and increasing motivation to remain engaged in treatment, we are taking an empirically validated approach to solving this third hurdle.”
To track the success of the new program, Pelago customers will provide anonymized claims data. The Company compares those who received emergency management with those who did not receive emergency management (but still received Pelago’s substance management services). These comparisons will be based on three clinical outcome areas: engagement, retention and substance use, Glasner said.
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, emergency management has been shown to be effective in treating substance use disorders but is underutilized. Glasner said this is partly due to the “stigmatization and misunderstandings associated with it.” [substance use disorders] in general, including the fact that it is due to lack of self-control, criminal tendencies or shame that often comes with someone [substance use disorder].” However, greater use of emergency management may be needed because 37.5 million U.S. workers are unable to obtain successful substance treatment.
Another company that uses contingency management for substance use disorders is DynamiCare. However, Pelago claims to be the “first nationwide digital asset management provider to offer emergency management.”
With the launch of the Contingency Management Program, Pelago aims to optimize its services and “reward the behaviors most likely to improve motivation, engagement and retention in care, thereby improving the health outcomes of its members,” said Glasner.
The launch of the program follows the company’s $58 million Series C funding round announced in late March. The round was led by Atomico and included participation from Kinnevik AB, Octopus Ventures, Y Combinator, Eight Roads and GreyMatter Capital.
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