Home emergency button, financial incentive app among addiction technology winners

This year’s Ohio Opioid Technology Challenge winners were announced yesterday. The competition, held since 2017, awards $1 million prizes for solutions to help prevent and treat opioid addiction. Four winners were named this year: 

• Brave Technology Coop: for developing a button that people struggling with opioid use disorder can install in their homes and push when they need emergency assistance. 
• DynamiCare Health: for developing an app that financially rewards people when they keep their medical appointments and meet other addiction recovery milestones. 
• Prapela: The company is working on a vibrating mattress for newborns who are born dependent on opioids. The vibrations help address problems these infants have, including trouble breathing and an irregular heartbeat.  
• University Hospitals: They developed an app to help people transition more smoothly from hospital-based care back to their communities.