# Harnessing telemedicine to improve alcohol use disorder outcomes in primary care patients

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · 2024 · $618,117

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
 Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is common and contributes to extensive functional impairments, morbidity
and mortality. Evidence-based psychosocial treatments, in particular Cognitive Behavioral Therapies (CBT)
and Motivational Interviewing (MI), are effective; but, fewer than 10% of people with AUD receive treatment.
Prior efforts have focused on screening, brief intervention and referral to treatment (SBIRT) in primary care.
However, referral has failed to increase treatment use due to barriers (e.g., poor treatment accessibility, stigma
of specialty addiction clinics) causing referred patients not to seek care. In addition, patients who are typically
non-treatment seeking (i.e., patients not presenting for AUD care) may vary in their drinking goals. Thus, new
models of care to engage and deliver effective treatments across the spectrum of the large, dispersed
population of AUD patients are critically needed.
 Telemedicine, specifically synchronous videoconferencing between providers and patients in separate
locations, can potentially help increase treatment utilization by delivering care to patients at home and reducing
stigma of attending treatment in specialty care settings. Telemedicine is effective for many conditions, but there
have been no efficacy trials to date for AUD. Although limited telemedicine infrastructure has been a barrier in
the past, the COVID-19 pandemic has proven that it can be rapidly implemented and widely used. There is an
urgent need to determine if telemedicine delivered AUD treatment is efficacious to inform dissemination.
Therefore, the objective of this study is to evaluate a telemedicine-delivered MI-CBT treatment intervention for
AUD (MI-CBT TeleTx) compared to Enhanced Usual Care (EUC) on AUD treatment utilization and alcohol use.
Primary care patients with AUD in two large healthcare systems in southeast Michigan will be recruited and
randomized to either MI-CBT TeleTx or EUC. Specific Aims are:
 Aim 1: Determine the impact of providing the option of the TeleTx intervention (n=150) compared to
EUC (n=150) in primary care patients with AUD on AUD treatment utilization. Aim 2: Determine the efficacy of
the TeleTx intervention compared to EUC on percent drinking days and percent heavy drinking days across 3-,
6-, and 12-month follow-ups. Aim 3: Determine the effect of the TeleTx intervention on alcohol-related
consequences and functioning (e.g., quality of life, mental health) and the moderating effect of alcohol risk
level reductions. In addition, an exploratory aim is to determine key mediators of the effect of intervention on
treatment use (through improved treatment accessibility and reduced stigma) and on alcohol use (through
treatment use). Impact: The findings from this study will have a significant public health impact as a novel and
scalable approach to address the large AUD treatment gap. Further, the work will be the first large efficacy trial
of a telemedicine AUD intervention an...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10853033
- **Project number:** 5R01AA029400-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR
- **Principal Investigator:** Erin E. Bonar
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $618,117
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-09-20 → 2026-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10853033

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10853033, Harnessing telemedicine to improve alcohol use disorder outcomes in primary care patients (5R01AA029400-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-11 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10853033. Licensed CC0.

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