Process Improvement and Technology

Process improvement increases efficiency, and so does technology. As NIATx Director Dave Gustafson pointed out in his January 23 blog post, communications technology is playing a bigger role in efforts to increase efficiency and serve customers better. Technology can help close the gap between the 20 million people in the United States who need treatment for a substance use disorder and the three to four million who actually receive it.

Kentucky River Community Care is one organization that is using both process improvement and technology to meet customer needs. This organization serves eight counties in eastern Kentucky, and was a grantee in the first NIATx initiative, Paths to Recovery. “Technology and process improvement go hand in hand in helping us adapt to the rapidly changing behavioral healthcare environment,” says KRCC Director Mike Kadish, who credits NIATx with helping his organization create a culture of change. Read more about KRCC’s innovations in the February 6, 2012, issue of Mental Health Weekly.