Ankit Gupta is the CEO and founder of Bicycle Health, virtual treatment provider for opioid addiction. To help people get stigma free and affordable care, Bicycle Health launched its platform to help patients rebuild their lives through a personalized, outcomes based platform and clinically validated care model.
Ankit’s career has always been centered around using innovation to solve real world problems: first in using technology to democratize news access and today in bringing recovery services to more people. Before his career with Bicycle Health, he founded Pulse, the news platform that was eventually acquired by Linkedin (you may have heard of Linkedin Pulse!). Ankit then spent some time traveling in India and came across the raging problem of opioid addiction, so he founded Bicycle Health. During the pandemic, the company transitioned from one in-person clinic to delivering their services through telemedicine, rapidly scaling their operations and now serving thousands people across the country.
Offered perspective on Biden Administration's strategy to curb the epidemic (not a direct quote).
"The Biden administration’s strategy to curbing the opioid epidemic is on the right track. I am especially encouraged by the components of the Biden administration’s strategy that increase access to telemedicine and provide payment parity for offering opioid use disorder treatment through that mechanism.
Telemedicine-based treatment is key to turning the opioid epidemic around, particularly in rural areas, where there are very few providers that can provide adequate treatment.
Historically, society and the government have taken a hard line on people with addiction, expecting these individuals to quit substances “cold turkey.” The federal government allowing harm reduction approaches — those that allow patients to reduce negative consequences of opioid use — is a significant change in the right direction."
https://www.healio.com/news/primary-care/20211203/six-ways-the-biden-administration-intends-to-curtail-drug-overdoses#DF81F8A230C343B8881F939D3D92D37E
15 December 2021"In 2019, my cofounder and I traveled to a healthcare clinic in Sonoma–where opioid abuse was on the rise. but talking to doctors there, we found that many had no idea how many people in their city were struggling with addiction. It just wasn't something they knew to ask about or look for the signs of. After our visit, we had a moment of clarity: To make an impact, we needed to work directly with patients. We pivoted from a B2B to a B2C model." - ANKIT GUPTA, founder and CEO, Bicycle Health for Entrepreneur's December print magazine
15 December 2021