Americans swept up in the nation's opioid epidemic often find treatment options at either end of society: methadone clinics in back alleys or exclusive, high-end inpatient facilities.

Column Health, an addiction-treatment startup based in Arlington, Massachusetts, wants to offer a middle ground — and an alternate entry point:

"We aim to be a place associated with recovery rather than a place associated with addiction," says co-founder and chief medical officer Daniel R. Karlin, M.D., a psychiatrist, addiction specialist, and informaticist.

Karlin and co-founder Colin Beatty, Column Health's CEO, have designed their three outpatient treatment centers with a welcoming atmosphere and uplifting imagery. The idea, they say, is to treat addiction as a chronic disease, as opposed to a human failure.

And they're engaging with payers accordingly, accepting all forms of health insurance and bringing addiction treatment to the value-based market — taking on risk-based contracts with two of the state's largest health insurance companies.

Their goal, they say, is to bring their model of outpatient addiction treatment to multiple states in the next few years.

Video produced by Laura Longsworth. Chelsea Rice contributed reporting. Data analysis by Anna Zink.