Beacon Extends Grants for Four Community BH Organizations

In 2019, Boston-based Beacon Health Options distributed $128,000 in grants to four community behavioral health organizations to help them increase their clients’ connectivity to medication-assisted treatment. After the venture proved successful, Beacon has announced this month that it has extended funding to the four recipient organizations for another year, this time distributing $125,000.

“Our goal in funding these organizations was to help providers drive innovation and find sustainable ways to connect clients to medication-assisted treatment,” Susan Coakley, Beacon’s interim president, said in a news release. “We’re very pleased with the results our partners have achieved and look forward to another successful year of helping individuals get the services they need to treat their opioid use disorder.”

The four organizations to receive grants from Beacon:

• Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program has invested its funding in developing mobile health and MAT services, along with telehealth-based cognitive behavioral therapy on its mobile addiction clinic. Since April, nearly 80% of its office-based addiction treatment clients have used the telehealth platforms at least once, and between April and August, more than 150 patients started or resumed OUD treatment via telehealth.
• Bournewood Health Systems in Brookline, Massachusetts, has developed an outpatient MAT program that incorporates smartphone technology. Its partial hospitalization program has been able to screen OUD patients and offer MAT induction/bridging/referrals. Bournewood has also implemented electronic prescribing of buprenorphine and naloxone.
• Lowell House has used its grant to fund transportation services for patients through Uber Health. The funding covered 332 trips to detox and medication-assisted treatment programs for 96 patients.
• Suffolk Mental Health has implemented MAT Opioid Addiction Recovery Services software into its existing telehealth operations to increase patients’ engagement and adherence to its treatment plans.