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Boulder Care: Stephanie Strong & Marianna Zaslavsky

Stephanie Strong, CEO & Marianna Zaslavsky, the (relatively new) Head of Growth at Boulder Care came on THCB to tell Matthew Holt about their service which delivers medication assisted treatment for those suffering from substance used disorder, via telehealth. Stephanie has been one of the leading advocates for getting patients, especially those on Medicaid, access to treatment. She led a campaign to get the DEA to continue to allow substance abuse treatment using medication via telehealth. Marianna joined this summer with the goal of helping patients get access via managed care plans. We discussed a lot about the potential for Boulder to continue its harm reduction strategy for patients, and also the potential limits that might be coming via Medicaid reductions as part of the BBB. Stephanie & Boulder are supporting a campaign called Majority for Medicaid which is raising awareness about the impact of Medicaid cuts on these patients. Some of those stories are here

You can also text MAJORITY to 50409 to urge your representative to protect the promise of Medicaid.

Stephanie Strong, CEO, Boulder

Stephanie Strong is the CEO of Boulder, which has been blazing a trail in the virtual treatment of substance use disorder. She left venture capital to start the company and has been steadily building its capabilities and reach. We talked in depth about how Boulder helps its patients, who are predominantly on Medicaid and in general tend–as you’d expect–not to have easy circumstances. One remarkable thing Stephanie has done is spearhead resistance to the DEA’s proposal to ban telehealth prescribing of the anti-addiction drug Buprenorphine. And it looks like that campaign has been successful. that alone will save many lives. Watch this interview of a young female CEO who is making a real difference, and totally impressing me in the process—Matthew Holt

Inside Boulder Care’s $36 Million Series B & Scaling Telehealth Addiction Treatment in Medicaid

BY JESSICA DaMASSA, WTF HEALTH

Telehealth addiction treatment clinic Boulder Care just closed a $36 million Series B. I’ve got Founder & CEO Stephanie Strong here to talk about the virtual care company’s medication-assisted approach to opioid and alcohol use disorder treatment, and its growing-bigger-by-the-day presence in the Medicaid market.

In fact, more than 95% of Boulder Care’s revenue comes in from Managed Medicaid plans, and this focus on making medications like Suboxone accessible to traditionally marginalized patients is not only better for patients (drugs like these can cut all-cause mortality rate by half or more) but also compelling for payers. Stephanie says patients suffering from opioid addiction who go untreated are 550% more expensive to the plan than those who are not, and these types of medications facilitate recovery by making it bearable, blocking withdrawal symptoms.

We get into the details behind Boulder Care’s approach, which includes a number of wrap-around support services, including those provided by the startup’s care delivery team that is set to grow as a result of this Series B funding. And speaking of scaling… Does Stephanie have any concerns about challenges that Boulder Care might face prescribing-and-managing controlled substances as a result of the scrutiny created by Cerebral’s bad behavior? Any additional concerns about changes to the clinic’s telehealth practices when the Covid19 public health emergency comes to an end? And…what about competition in this space?? Particularly as similar-looking Bicycle Health announced its $50 million Series B just days earlier? A great inside look at how virtual care is changing the specialized mental health care space.