In August, Minnesota granted Fulcrum Health $318,000 to deliver its pain treatments to underserved Twin Cities communities. The goal: Reduce opioid use. The Plymouth-based provider covers a variety of therapeutic modalities from acupuncture to massage. “Physical medicine treats the root cause of pain,” CEO Patricia Dennis says, alleviating the need for pharmaceutical solutions; she notes that “over 1,000 Minnesotans die from overdoses every year, and many of those journeys begin with prescription opioids for musculoskeletal pain.” Fulcrum has put the funds into a mobile clinic, to deploy in three metro counties with records of high prescription-opioid use. It launched in Anoka County in October. Next year, Dennis will focus on helping employers and insurers rethink how they approach pain management, “recognizing the role of conservative [non-invasive] care in improving outcomes and reducing costs.”