Polaris Health Directions Inc.
To ensure its adaptability in fast-paced, intense settings, the DARSSA was developed and field-tested in a highly demanding Emergency Medicine environment.
Product Highlights
✔ Provides a highly time-efficient, effective 'screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment’ (SBIRT) system as recommended by SAMHSA
✔ Web-based and flexible so it can be easily integrated into a variety of medical settings
✔ May have a positive impact on a patient's health, and influence the decision to stop using drugs, alcohol or tobacco
✔ May improve detection and referral rates for substance abuse; in a field test, 56 percent of emergency medicine patients (N=85) screened positive for risky substance use, and 42 percent of this group requested a dynamic referral
✔ Help combat four barriers to effective substance abuse counseling and referral: forgetfulness; lack of training for using assessments; a poor understanding of counseling guidelines; and inconsistent access to up-to-date treatment and referral resources
✔ Tailored feedback reports for patients have been found to be more effective that the "one size fits all" self-help manuals
Product Components
✔ The Assessment Module is a response-adaptive, self-administered assessment that screens for tobacco, alcohol and other drug use.
✔ Assessment Measures include rate, frequency and severity of use and readiness to change, as well as screens for mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety, and for domestic violence.
✔ The Report Generator produces a health care provider report and a tailored patient feedback report. The provider report presents information considered most crucial to decision making in busy clinical settings. The report is in compliance with Medicare and other insurance billing requirements.
✔ Individualized Patient Feedback Report includes an assessment summary, personalized motivational feedback, tailored referral lists, and up to three "quick fact sheets" that provide education and treatment resources for the specific drug(s) the patient takes.
✔ The Referral Generator draws from an extensive database of accredited substance treatment facilities and independent practitioners.
✔ Automated Referral , or ‘dynamic referral,’ is available to patients who want more than a tailored list of treatment provider options. When patients request a dynamic referral, the system prompts the Referral Generator to send a fax to a matched provider.
The fax consists of a HIPAA-compliant cover sheet, an assessment summary, an electronically-signed release for the medical information, and the patient's personal contact information. This provider is then required to make attempts to contact the patient within five days to discuss treatment options and schedule an appointment.
The Story Behind the Product
Substance abuse, including that of tobacco, alcohol and drugs, kills more Americans each year than any other health choice. These can be preventable deaths if the abuse is detected and properly treated in time. Accordingly, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) recommends that health care settings implement an SBIRT system. But many health care providers, while acknowledging SAMHSA's endorsement, have yet to integrate such a system into their practices.
Polaris Health Directions, in conjunction with Robert Wood Johnson and University of Massachusetts Medical Schools, has designed a system to address this need that takes advantage of the latest technology in computerized assessments.
Contact us at moreinfo@polarishealth.com to learn more about the benefits you will see by using the DARSSA system.
We are committed to helping you succeed in improving the substance abuse outcomes of the patients you serve.
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