# Mobile technology for buprenorphine treatment engagement and overdose prevention in out-of-treatment opioid users

> **NIH ALLCDC R01** · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $713,747

## Abstract

The United States is experiencing an epidemic of opioid-related overdose deaths. Office-based buprenorphine
treatment could expand access to treatment to the many opioid users who are not in treatment and who are at
great risk for opioid overdose. However, office-based buprenorphine has two limitations that we will address in
this application: 1) Patients prescribed buprenorphine by office-based providers can divert the buprenorphine
for illicit use. 2) Many people in need of buprenorphine treatment do not initiate and remain in office-based
buprenorphine treatment. We will use Video DOT and incentives to enhance office-based buprenorphine
treatment. Video DOT is an innovative, mobile health platform that patients can use to record and submit
videos of themselves taking medication that are then viewable on a secure, web portal for providers to confirm
medication adherence. Video DOT could facilitate adherence to buprenorphine treatment and safeguard
against diversion. The addition of incentives could engage out-of-treatment opioid users into treatment and
increase treatment retention. Incentive interventions, which provide incentives to patients when they meet
therapeutic goals, have been highly effective in promoting a wide range of health behaviors and have firm
theoretical and empirical foundations. Incentive interventions can promote treatment engagement in individuals
with substance use disorders, including out-of-treatment opioid users. We propose to develop and pilot test a
novel combination of Video DOT and incentives to promote buprenorphine treatment engagement and
adherence in out-of-treatment opioid users. The Video DOT+ intervention will provide an incentive for linking to
buprenorphine treatment and facilitate retention in treatment by providing incentives for maintaining daily
buprenorphine use as verified by the Video DOT system. The incentives will be integrated into the Video DOT
platform and delivered remotely to reloadable credit cards to allow for the entire intervention to be delivered via
mobile technology and to facilitate easy dissemination of the Video DOT+ system. A randomized pilot study is
planned over 3 years. Out-of-treatment opioid users (N=64) will be referred to buprenorphine treatment and
randomly assigned to a Usual Care (Control) group or Video DOT+ group. Video DOT+ participants will receive
the Video DOT+ intervention being developed and evaluated in this project. We will assess participants every 4
weeks throughout a 24-week intervention period and at 12 weeks after the intervention ends. The primary
outcome measure will be buprenorphine treatment adherence during the 24-week intervention. Secondary
measures will include buprenorphine treatment engagement (linkage and retention), opioid use, risk of opioid
overdose, and post-intervention effects. The project will allow for the development and preliminary evaluation
of a novel intervention to promote buprenorphine treatment engagement and adherence in out-of...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10003131
- **Project number:** 5R01CE003069-03
- **Recipient organization:** JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Kenneth Silverman
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** ALLCDC
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $713,747
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-09-30 → 2021-09-29

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10003131

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10003131, Mobile technology for buprenorphine treatment engagement and overdose prevention in out-of-treatment opioid users (5R01CE003069-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10003131. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*