Digital delivery of a contingency management intervention for substance use disorder: A feasibility study with DynamiCare Health

Digital health tools can provide convenient delivery of evidence-based treatments. The DynamiCare Health smartphone app delivers a contingency management intervention for substance use disorder consisting of remote self-testing for alcohol (breath) and drugs (saliva) with remote test validation and delivery of financial incentives for negative test results. This study examined feasibility, engagement (duration and consistency of app utilization), and impact on usual care treatment participation when a community substance use treatment program implemented this digital therapy among its patients. The study randomly assigned patients with alcohol use disorder (N = 61) to receive either DynamiCare along with treatment-as-usual (TAU; N = 29) or TAU only (N = 32) during a 90-day evaluation period. Mean duration between first and last app use was 64 (±35) days, with mean earnings of $248 (±$209, out of $600 maximum). Among those with any app use (n = 25), compliance was 68% and 74%, respectively for requested breath and saliva samples. Overall, two thirds of patients (66%) assigned to the app used it for at least 57 days and with high rates of self-testing compliance. Those completing the assessment (n = 13; 45% of sample) endorsed high satisfaction ratings. DynamiCare versus TAU participants were more likely to be retained in usual care treatment at 90 days (24% vs 3%; (χ² (1, 61) = 5.9, p < 0.05), but sustained app utilization was associated with a wide range of usual care treatment participation. These data suggest that DynamiCare Health is feasible and potentially beneficial as a complement to community substance use treatment programs.