Ria Health, a leading telehealth provider specializing in Alcohol Use Disorder treatment (AUD has received a $2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The grant focuses on a clinical trial assessing its medically assisted treatment program’s effectiveness. The program is officially called The Ria Health Program. The clinical study will be conducted in partnership with Stanford University and was announced at the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases’ The Liver Meeting this past week.
The study will be conducted in phases, with the first phase focusing on the identification and screening of trial candidates. This phase is subject to milestone achievement and regulatory controls. Once completed, phase two will begin with actual subject enrollment.
“At Stanford, we are pleased to collaborate on this grant from NIH,” said Judith Prochaska, PhD, MPH, Professor of Medicine with the Stanford Prevention Research Center. “It will support a randomized controlled trial evaluation of Ria Health’s telehealth intervention to increase screening and treatment for alcohol use disorder.”
Over the last decade, U.S. life expectancy has dropped, with alcohol use being one of the top contributors. In 2020, 28.3 million people suffered from AUD in the United States. At the same time, the treatment rates have been rapidly declining as well.
“This grant is a step towards preventative evidence-based interventions that can help reduce the alarming increases rates of cirrhosis that are disproportionately affecting people under the age of 45 and women who are misusing alcohol,” said Tom Nix, CEO of Ria Health. “Early detection of liver abnormalities and treatments for alcohol misuse are proven to reduce acute liver disease which require life altering treatments and cause high mortality rates.”
For those that aren’t already aware, The Ria Health Program emphasizes a reduction in alcohol consumption through a combination of medical treatment, counseling, and technology. The program includes several FDA-approved medications for AUD that, when used in addition to proper counseling, have been proven to be highly effective in treatment. Participants use a Bluetooth device to track and monitor blood alcohol levels, while the data is reported to and managed by the program leaders. In addition, it is important to note that the program does not mandate total abstinence from alcohol. Instead, it focuses on significant behavior modifications with respect to it.
More information about the grant can be found online at:
https://reporter.nih.gov/search/0rkfTR_5QUiK4A2JP9NSFA/project-details/10604054 and riahealth.com.
About Ria Health
Over their lifetime, 1 in 10 adults will struggle with alcohol use disorder, the third-leading cause of preventable death in the United States. At Ria Health, we envision a world with accessible, effective, and compassionate treatment for people who suffer from alcohol misuse. Ria Health is the first evidence-based telehealth treatment program for people who want to drink less and live better by changing their relationship with alcohol. We combine medical science, technology, and human compassion to help people rapidly improve their lives with a simple, online alcohol treatment program that works. For more information, visit www.riahealth.com.