ReKlame Health, a NYC based tele psychiatry and addiction medics provider for the BIPOC community, launched their in-home AUD (alcohol use disorder) treatment program in the city.
The program rollout in NYC provides virtual and in-home AUD medicine treatment program. ReKlame sends a nurse to the patient’s home to administer a monthly shot and the same nurse will visit each time to ensure continuity.
Meds can reduce cravings
Naltrexone LAI is the lifesaving medication that eliminates daily alcohol cravings by blocking brain receptors.
The ReKlame patients diagnosed with AUD start on Naltrexone, a daily version of LAI, coupled with tele-psychiatry appointments.
Evans Rochaste, the founder and CEO of Reklame Health, was born and raised in Canarsie and was on the basketball team at Erasmus Hall High. He thought a program such as this one was necessary based on his life experiences and what he has seen working in healthcare.
“I was exposed to trauma from a young age and used basketball as a way to cope and get through hard days,” Rochaste said. “In college, I was looking for a therapist and found it hard to find a provider that looked like me and a provider who could understand some of my challenges.”
Before starting ReKlame, he worked in healthcare for a decade, primarily in the NYC area at Columbia University hospital at Northwell Health.
Care isn’t always equal
He saw firsthand the differences in care between minorities and other groups and the challenges that minorities would face.
During their small scale rollout so far it has been really advantageous for the participants.
ReKlame has partnerships with the major commercial insurance companies like United Health Care, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Signa and Aetna. Residents who are enrolled with these insurance providers will be able to benefit from this program.
The insurance will cover the program including the evaluation with the psychiatric nurse practitioner.
They take Medicaid
Rochaste is familiar with Red Hook and the “mixture of social classes and mixture of insurers.” He is looking forward to potentially having this at home program available to Medicaid patients in the area.
Interested patients in Red Hook or other parts of the city who are looking for treatment can go to reklamehealth.com or call them at 718-790-4511 and details will be provided. The care navigation team is available from 8 am to 8 pm, Monday to Friday.
This program works with people from 18 years old to 65 years old. They are either struggling with opioid usage or are in the program looking for a better way to control their symptoms and excess of alcohol usage.
In Brooklyn, Williamsburg has been where the majority of the program’s residents live.
Hybrid care makes it easier
For the evaluation by the board certified psychiatric nurse practitioner, residents who have access to the internet will be able to do this from home over Telehealth. They can do it through video to make it convenient, and this means that the entire care, including monthly visits, will be able to be done from home.
“We know some of the challenges that some residents may have around transportation and trying to coordinate to go to different locations,” Rochaste said. “It makes it as seamless as possible for them.
Rochaste thinks there are benefits of the hybrid model where they work closely with the patients.
“Engagement is critical when treating substance use disorders,” Rochaste said. “By having this collaborative hybrid model, we’re able to have quicker touch-points with the patient, increased patient engagement, and vital increased patient retention.”
“Often if you need services and you are in Red Hook, you find yourself traveling to a different part of the city,” Rochaste said. “The residents can be quite isolated so we want to make sure that we actually bring the care to them so it makes the process much easier.
ReKlame Health is having conversations with community groups since they believe it can be a way to raise awareness. They know patients they want to serve are often involved in community groups.
They are now open and available to the entire city and want to have participants in as much of the city as possible so that they can deliver their high quality care to as many residents as they possibly can.
The increased emotional and behavioral issues during the pandemic led to increased alcohol binge drinking to alcohol use disorder (AUD).
Black and brown people seeking AUD care face roadblocks in accessing behavioral healthcare. The roadblocks include cultural stigma and high out-of-pocket costs.
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