OpenBeds: Improving the Delivery of Care for Patients with Drug Addiction

There is an urgent need for more effective mechanisms that leverage current technologies and best practices to both identify capacity and refer patients to drug treatment facilitiesThe applicant organizationOpenBeds Incis partnering with the non profit MESH Coalitionthree of the largest health care systems offering drug treatment in Indiana and the Indiana Division of Mental Health and AddictionDMHAto improve access to treatmentThe goal of this Fast Track SBIR project is to developiterate and validate a providerfacing information technologyITplatform to facilitate the referral of patients in need of drug addiction treatmentThis cloud based platform will replace existing manual search and communication processes to provide real time drug treatment facility availabilityevidence based therapy offeringstwo way digital provider communicationand data aggregation and analyticsIn additionwe plan to integrate with existing IT toolsincluding facility directoriesSAMHSAand screening and referral resourcesNIDAMEDThe purpose of Phaseis to develop and evaluate the utility and usability of a provider facing IT platform to facilitate the referral of patients in need of drug addiction treatmentThe aims proposefurther elucidate known gaps in the drug addiction treatment referral process and develop strategies to build upon existing IT tools to improve transparencyintegration and disseminationAimmodify the OpenBedsbase platform to develop a platform for drug treatment referralsAimevaluate the usability and utility of the OpenBedsdrug treatment referral platform to facilitate referrals and placement within a health care systemAimThe key Phasemilestone is the demonstration of technologic feasibility and value to users and customersValue will be demonstrated if the platform adecreases provider search burden bfacilitates more timely treatmentand csuggests improved utilization by promoting appropriate referrals and collaborationThe purpose of Phaseis to technically and logistically scale the OpenBedsdrug treatment referral platform to facilitate patient referrals to drug treatment facilities at three health systems in Indianaand perform a qualitative and quantitative evaluation of clinical and operational outcomesThe aims proposepilot the OpenBedsdrug treatment referral platform to facilitate patient referrals to inpatientoutpatient and residential facilities within three health systems in the state of IndianaAimiterate the value proposition model of the OpenBedsdrug treatment referral platform in preparation for product commercialization and scalingAimThe key Phasemilestones include the demonstration of improved clinical and operational outcomes in preand post intervention interrupted time series and qualitative studiesand applying these to iterate the technology and value proposition in preparation for commercialization and scaling to additional statesThe proposed work has the potential to increase transparency and streamline the drug treatment referral process to reduce the human and economic burden of drug addiction in the US The prevalence of substance abuse and its associated societal and economic costs remain highand yet treatment access is problematicThe goal of this proposal is to developiterate and validate a provider facing information technology platform to increase treatment access for patients in need of drug addiction treatment