Take this app: Tech firms tackle opioid crisis with software

Technology firms are taking aim at the opioid crisis and related health problems with a new class of treatments — digital therapeutics — delivered by smartphone.

These new treatments, backed by medical research and offered by prescription, are seen as potential ways to supplement, and in some cases replace, pharmaceuticals to treat addiction and an array of other mental and physical health issues.

Smartphone technology may be well-suited to behavioral therapy for addiction, depression and other disorders by making treatment more accessible and trackable by medical professionals, researchers say.