By Kim Johnson, Deputy Director, NIATx
The 2013 NIATx Summit and SAAS National Conference is fast
approaching: July 14-16 in San Diego. Again this year, with funding from
SAMHSA, we’re recognizing several organizations with the Innovation in
Behavioral Healthcare Services Award, otherwise known as the iAWARD. The two
winning organizations have been selected, from a very competitive pool. Four others were selected as Honorable Mentions. Each of the six
embodies this year’s conference theme: “Innovation, integration,
implementation: the business of behavioral healthcare.”
Winning organization Drug Abuse Comprehensive Coordinating
Office (DACCO) of Tampa, Florida focused on the community’s growing problem of
opioid dependence among pregnant women. The Comprehensive Coordinated Care
program it developed in collaboration with the nearby University of Florida
College of Medicine integrated substance abuse treatment with
primary care, promoted implementation of evidence-based practices such as medication-assisted
treatment, and improved care for pregnant women and their newborns.
Technology plays a key role in health care innovation—as the
iAWARD winner Holy Cross Hospital of Taos, New Mexico demonstrates. Holy Cross partnered
with local primary and specialty care providers to reduce high-utilization of
its ER by people with co-occurring disorders. The hospital’s information
technology developed an automatic email that alerts social worker whenever patients
from this high need population appear in the ER. Improved communication allows
a social worker to connect patients to treatment and other resources before they
leave the ER.
Four other organizations were selected
for 2013 iAWARD Honorable Mentions:
·
The Zucker Hillside Hospital, Queens, New York
·
Kentucky River Community Care Inc., Hazard,
Kentucky
·
McLeod Addictive Disease Center, Charlotte,
North Carolina
·
Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center,
Santa Fe, New Mexico
All will present their innovations during a special session
at the Summit. We hope you’ll join us in San Diego to recognize them, spend a
few days with us, share new ideas on innovation, integration, and
implementation, and connect with your colleagues from across the country.
See you in San Diego?
