Clinicians at substance use disorder (SUD) provider Bicycle Health won their union election in a landmark moment for the digital SUD industry.
The National Labor Relations Board tallied votes on Monday, April 15 and found that 64% of ballots favored unionizing with the Union of American Physicians and Dentists (UAPD).
“Today marks an important win for us as providers and for our patients,” read a joint statement from Bicycle Health providers. “For the past couple of years, Bicycle Health has placed increasingly untenable pressure on us, negatively impacting our well-being and our ability to take care of our patients struggling with opioid addiction. … Now that we have unionized, we hope that Bicycle Health leadership will finally listen.”
Boston-based Bicycle provides virtual therapy, medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), as well as customized treatment plans and peer support groups. The startup has raised $83 million in total funding since its inception in 2017.
“We can confirm that our physicians and providers have agreed to unionize,” Bicycle said in a statement to Addiction Treatment Business. “We will continue to work with our medical team to provide the highest standard of care to patients as they seek and maintain long-term recovery.”
Bicycle clinicians filed to unionize in late February. The company laid off 15% of its workforce just weeks later.
“These two events are wholly unrelated,” Bicycle said in a statement. “Our reduction in force plans were in place before we became aware of the union bid.”
Multiple anonymous employees told ATB that the company had decreased the time clinicians could spend on follow-up appointments with existing patients, made billing practices more obtuse and eliminated opportunities for clinicians to share feedback.
“If changes are not made, and we continue on the same trajectory, then patient care will suffer,” one source previously told ATB. “Patients will suffer.”
Bicycle previously told ATB that the company evolved its billing practices as it entered contracts with more health insurance providers and that most clinicians were happy with the changes to the scheduling system.
The digital health space has had few encounters with unionization attempts, with the notable exception of Resilience Lab. The company’s clinicians voted to unionize in early 2023.
“As telehealth continues to grow, it’s critical that the healthcare providers employed at these tech companies have workplace protections,” Dr. Stuart Bussey, UAPD president, said in a statement.
Bicycle clinicians say they see the “writing on the wall” for the health care industry, which the group claims is increasingly driven by investors, shareholders, private equity and venture capital for whom “profits and ROIs matter more than patient care.”
“We hope that [Bicycle leadership] will do the right thing and negotiate with us in finalizing a contract that protects our rights as health care workers and our ability to meet the needs of millions of people in the U.S. affected by the devastating opioid epidemic,” clinicians said in a statement. “Today, we took a big step towards fighting for each other in order to fulfill our greater mission of fighting for our patients and their families and communities.”
