StudyTaking it and getting it2019
Mendelson 2019: Ria Health's poster on keeping patients in treatment
Mendelson J, Deacon D, Xu S, Nix R. Engaging patients in pharmacotherapy for alcohol use disorder with technology
This is a conference poster, supported by Ria Health and written by Ria Health authors, about the company's own telehealth program for alcohol, which prescribes naltrexone and other medicines.
What it found
Of 635 patients in Ria Health's telehealth program, 50% were still enrolled and engaged at 180 days, and medication adherence was 71.6% at 180 days and 79.6% at 360 days. The poster was supported by Ria Health and compared these figures with published studies, not with a control group.
- Patients enrolled
- 635
- Still enrolled and engaged at 180 days
- 50%
- Medication adherence at 180 days
- 71.6%
- Medication adherence at 360 days
- 79.6%
What they tested
Ria Health's program gives people with alcohol use disorder access to doctors through a smartphone app, medicine to curb drinking (naltrexone and others), recovery coaches and a phone-linked breathalyzer. This poster reported how engaged patients were, using data collected daily through January 7, 2019.
Engagement meant staying enrolled (patients pay a monthly fee), using the breathalyzer, confirming medicine doses, sending secure messages, having telehealth visits and getting prescriptions.
What they found
Patients logged 140,415 engagement data points, including 66,639 breathalyzer readings, 16,315 medication adherence confirmations, 9,593 telehealth visits with the care team and 2,665 prescriptions.
The poster reports mean breath alcohol falling from .09 at the start to .03 at 6 months, estimated drinks falling from 30 to 11.5 a week, and non-drinking days rising from 1.5 to 4.3 a week.
It contrasts its results with a published figure that only 14.2% of people treated with oral naltrexone for alcohol stay in treatment at six months (Kranzler, 2008), and describes Ria's result as a ~3.5X improvement in engagement.
Patients paid a monthly subscription fee of $99-300.
Limits
- It was supported by Ria Health and written by Ria Health authors, and it is a poster, not a peer-reviewed paper.
- There was no control group. The comparison is with other published studies of different patients.
- The poster doesn't explain how medication adherence was worked out or how many patients the 360-day figure is based on.
- Drinking results come from breath tests and estimated drinks, not a full record of how much people drank.
What it means if you're considering naltrexone
The poster suggests Ria's app-based model keeps more people in treatment than is typical for oral naltrexone prescribed the usual way. But the comparison is with other studies, not a randomized test, and the company produced it, so it is best read as the program's own account.
Frequently asked questions
How many people stay with Ria Health?
In Ria's 2019 poster, 50% of 635 patients were still enrolled and engaged at 180 days. The figure comes from the company's own data, with no comparison group.
The paper
Mendelson J, Deacon D, Xu S, Nix R. Engaging patients in pharmacotherapy for alcohol use disorder with technology. Poster (PDF linked from Ria Health's research page). Ria Health; 2019. Accessed October 17, 2026. https://riahealth.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/RSA-2019-Poster.pdf
We wrote this page from the report's published summary, and the study's numbers here come from there. Updated October 17, 2026.
Medical disclaimer
This page is for information only and is not medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Don't start, stop, or change any medicine — including naltrexone — without your prescriber. Naltrexone must not be used by people taking opioid pain medicines, people dependent on opioids, or people in opioid withdrawal (FDA label). In an emergency call 911; for crisis support call or text 988. Full medical disclaimer.