Company builds out platform, including powerful analytics engine that enables real time intervention
Latest services include Medication Taper Management™ and Medication Assisted Treatment
Lucid Lane, the telehealth solution that empowers people with medication dependence and substance-use disorders to live better, healthier lives, today announced that it has raised $16 million in Series A funding. The round was led by Accel with participation from Battery Ventures, AME Cloud Ventures, Morado Ventures and strategic angel investors. Eric Wolford, Partner at Accel, has joined the Lucid Lane board of directors.
The company also announced several product advancements, including its powerful analytics engine that delivers personalized and context-sensitive treatment and support in real time. It has also expanded its services in order to address a wider spectrum of needs.
Each year, 40 million people are prescribed opioids and benzodiazepines– often after surgery or in conjunction with cancer treatment– in order to address acute and chronic pain as well as co-occurring mental health challenges such as anxiety and depression. These medications work well for a vast majority of the population to address pain and mental health. However, about 15 million people will become persistent users of opioids and benzodiazepines. Their healthcare cost balloons significantly for the insurance health plans and self-insured employers. Lucid Lane provides its comprehensive Medication Taper Management™ service to prevent these patients from becoming persistent medication users and keep them from eventually sliding into addiction.
“Medication dependent patients desperately want help, whether it’s to overcome substance dependence, manage chronic pain or improve mental health, but few good options exist that offer the specific, personalized treatment they need,” said Adnan Asar, co-founder and CEO of Lucid Lane. “Doctors are equally frustrated because they lack the time, training and capabilities to adequately assist their patients on a daily basis, managing their care as they taper medication usage. We’ve solved these issues with our unique, comprehensive telehealth platform and by working as collaborators with physicians rather than vendors. There is never a cost for doctors, empowering them to provide the best care possible to their patients.”
Combining the Power of People with Game-changing Technology
Building on its initial offering, Lucid Lane has expanded its services to provide its Medication Taper Management™ service for those dependent on opioids, benzodiazepines, alcohol and nicotine as well as Medication Assisted Treatment for patients diagnosed with substance disorder specifically for opioids and alcohol. These proprietary treatment protocols are based on scientific evidence and available in over 35 states.
Lucid Lane’s technology enables its programs to occur in the safest possible environments, with its web and mobile-based application providing remote patient monitoring and allowing members to communicate with their dedicated therapists on a daily basis. Additionally, Lucid Lane’s newly developed analytics engine draws upon many health signals from patients to measure symptoms like anxiety, depression, pain levels and withdrawal effects and personalize their treatment. The analytics engine detects patients who need help in the moment so that Lucid Lane can connect them instantly with an on-call counselor.
The analytics engine also helps personalize patient treatment plans so that doctors and treatment teams follow their clear, meticulously designed Medication Taper Management program which shows exactly when to start tapering medication, how much to taper, when to increase the rate of taper, as well as when to stop. This information is accessible to the internal clinical team. It can also be integrated with various electronic health record systems, such as Epic and Cerner.
“Opioids and benzodiazepines can be highly effective drugs for a range of health issues, but they can be highly addictive,” said Dr. Amrish Patel of Sports and Spine Institute. “Lucid Lane has given us the power to serve our patients more effectively and with greater knowledge and compassion, particularly as regulators, medical boards and medical institutions emphasize prescription safeguards. Patient outcomes are also significantly better when Lucid Lane becomes part of a patient’s overall treatment plan.”
In fact, over 90% of patients who started Lucid Lane’s Medication Tapering Management service have safely tapered off and were thereby prevented from becoming new persistent opioid users. Lucid Lane members who are persistent opioid or benzodiazepine users tapered by 50% in 6 months, which is substantially better than CDC guidelines. This coincides with statistically and clinically significant improvements in pain, emotional wellbeing and quality of life.
Lucid Lane is currently engaged in additional peer-reviewed, evidence-based, clinical trials at academic institutions, including Stanford University, the United States Veteran Affairs System, The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Gaining Momentum in the Fight Against One of Society’s Biggest Issues
Lucid Lane has been able to achieve such incredible results in part because of the strength of its team– a group of world-class experts across clinical, technology and data sciences. Asar, who was the founding CTO of Livongo Health, brought together Stanford trained MDs, including Dr. Ahmed Zaafran (co-founder), Dr. Amer Raheemullah as well as Ramin Naimi (CTO, previously at Intuit, Yahoo!), Roger Hong (CPO, previously Shutterfly) and David Etheridge (COO, previously Livongo, Realtor). The company also announced that former SVP of Clinical AI at Anthem Beau Norgeot will join Lucid Lane as its Chief Data Officer.
The company has grown tremendously over the last year in both patients served and overall revenue as it meets the incredible demand for its services. Lucid Lane now works with many hospitals, pain clinics, primary care providers, recovery centers and other specialties across the US. It is also an in-network option with many large commercial insurance payers, as well as with CMS, including Medicare and Tricare. The Series A round of funding will enable the company to further extend its reach.
“Doctors facing demand from patients in a cycle of medication dependence are under massive pressure from regulators and payers,” said Eric Wolford, Partner at Accel and new board member at Lucid Lane. “Lucid Lane’s telehealth solution will be a pressure release valve for these providers, and we are excited to support them in combating the opioid crisis.”
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