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Innovation and Acceleration Projects

Innovation Projects are innovative approaches to using data to drive action and change in real-world settings. Efforts focus on improving data infrastructure (e.g., data capture, data timeliness, data sharing, data linkage, data utilization) and engaging stakeholders to support data-driven decision-making and real-time feedback loops that accelerate the implementation of evidence-based practices for opioid use disorder and pain management and improve overdose-related outcomes.

HEAL Data2Action (HD2A) Acceleration Projects develop data or methods that improve the timeliness, quality, accessibility, or usefulness of existing data ecosystems. Ultimately, these data improvements are intended to allow for faster and improved responses to address the overdose epidemic, including primary prevention, harm reduction, evidence-based treatment, and recovery support.

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CADENCE: Continuous and Data-Driven Care

Principal Investigator(s):

Jennifer Marshall, Tanner Wright

Maternal opioid use disorder (OUD) is the leading cause of maternal mortality in the first year after delivery and contributes to out-of-home placements in the child welfare system. Medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) is the primary standard of treatment; however, access to MOUD and…

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Chicago Data-driven OUD Screening, Engagement, Treatment and Planning System

Principal Investigator(s):

Niranjan S. Karnik

Health services for the treatment of opioid use disorder are fragmented in the west side of Chicago, an epicenter for elevated mortality. This study will use a data-driven approach bringing together elements of the University of Illinois Health System into a unified approach. The study…

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Fatal Overdose Review Teams – Research to Enhance Surveillance Systems (FORTRESS)

Principal Investigator(s):

Matt AalsmaKhairi RedaBradley Ray

With the rise in overdose deaths and reliance on a case review model, there is a need to shift Overdose Fatality Review Teams (OFR) toward using more timely population-level data to inform recommendations. The investigators aim to improve standard OFR practices in Indiana by use…

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Improving Pain Management and Opioid Safety Through a Systemwide Data-Driven Evaluation of the CDC Opioid Prescribing Guideline Best Practices and the Use of Clinical Decision Support

Principal Investigator(s):

Jason Hoppe

Effectively treating pain while safely prescribing opioid pain medication to prevent opioid use disorder and overdose is a public health priority. Clinical decision support (CDS) is a promising strategy to operationalize evidence-based practices in pain management and maximize the value of routinely collected data. The…

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Leveraging Data to Action: Accelerating Emergency Department OUD Care by Improving Data Access and Infrastructure

Principal Investigator(s):

Arjun Venkatesh, Kathryn Hawk, Andrew Taylor

Emergency departments (EDs) are key settings in identifying and treating opioid use disorder (OUD). Data-driven evaluation and interventions to improve OUD care in ED settings are lacking, and there is a gap in ED data systems to advance research in this area. This project aims…

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Leveraging Regulatory Flexibility for Methadone Take-Home Dosing to Improve Retention in Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder: A Stepped-Wedge Randomized Trial to Facilitate Clinic-Level Changes

Principal Investigator(s):

Charlie NeighborsYuhua Bao, Ashly Jordan

During the COVID-19 public health emergency, regulations relaxed for take-home dosing of methadone, offering an opportunity to improve retention in care and address racial and ethnic disparities. This project aims to develop and evaluate an intervention in Opioid Treatment Programs to change clinical practice and…

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Supporting data-driven decision-making to support substance use service expansion policies and to prevent overdoses

Principal Investigator(s):

Gracelyn Cruden

Oregon state, which ranks last in the U.S. for substance use service access, passed a novel ballot measure bringing unprecedented funding levels to expand services and decriminalize possession of personal amounts of substances. This study will develop and evaluate a strategy optimizing policy implementation, Discovery…

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The Use of Novel Linked Databases to Reduce Postoperative Opioid Use Among Patients Undergoing Inpatient Surgery

Principal Investigator(s):

Eric Sun, Douglas Colquhoun

Older adults receive more than half of all surgical procedures in the United States, and surgery places patients at risk for misusing opioids, developing opioid use disorder (OUD), opioid overdose, and negative surgical outcomes. This project seeks to understand whether interventions to prevent negative opioid-related…

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Using Data to Drive Action to Reduce Opioid Overdoses in Seattle, WA

Principal Investigator(s):

Caleb Banta-GreenJulia Hood

Despite improvements in data infrastructure and care continuum, significant gaps remain in addressing the opioid crisis. The investigators will use a data to action framework to guide rapid data infrastructure, opioid use disorder treatment, and harm reduction interventions. Existing data systems will be leveraged such…

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Using System Dynamics Modeling to Foster Real-Time Connections to Care

Principal Investigator(s):

Robert Heimer, Nasim Sabounchi, Rebekah Heckmann

While the deployment of first responders in the field for overdose provides life-saving resuscitation and naloxone, data are lacking to understand when treatment referrals are offered and the time between overdose to treatment engagement. In this project, investigators will use a system dynamics model to…

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