|
For the Patient Community
For the Treatment Community
Quick Sheet - Stand Alone Users (PDF 529 KB)
Quick Sheet - Software Interface Users (PDF 549 KB)
System Architecture
| What's New
Overview of D-ATMOn this page: OverviewDigital Access to Medication (D-ATM) is a centralized database/information system in development under the sponsorship of the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT), part of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), a Federal agency in the Department of Health and Human Services. D-ATM’s purpose is to ensure continuity of care for patients receiving treatment for opioid addiction in Opioid Treatment Programs (OTPs) when OTPs experience a disruption in the ability to provide services. During a service disruption, it is important that patients are able to obtain treatment at a guest OTP. Any guest OTP must have access to limited, but specific, information about the patient’s medication and dosage needed to provide safe and effective treatment. D-ATM’s ultimate function is to acquire, store, and make this information available, under restriction. Project StatusCurrently, the project is beginning its pilot phase. In February 2007, during the pre-pilot phase, the system was implemented and tested at a New York OTP. In Fall, 2007, a limited number of pilots will be launched. This will be done in a staggered fashion, in clusters of OTPs located in three or four areas of the United States, potentially to include: the Greater New York metropolitan area, a metropolitan area in California, the Baltimore-Washington area, North Carolina and Louisiana. Ultimately, it is hoped that the D-ATM pilot will provide the foundation for future expansion to a national system, should funding become available. Project BackgroundThe September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks highlighted the need to ensure continuity of care for patients receiving opioid addiction treatment when a disastrous event causes disruption in the services regularly provided by one or more OTPs. The OTP located near the World Trade Center was destroyed completely, and several other OTPs remained closed for days or weeks. Approximately 1,000 patients were displaced. Subsequent severe weather-related events such as Hurricane Katrina further underscored this need. These disasters caused the loss of access to one or more OTPs by members of the opioid addiction patient treatment community who regularly rely on them for routine daily treatment. OTP staff and patients recognized the need for a solution to ensure service continuity for OTPs during a disaster or more routine disruption. Immediately after September 11, 2001, CSAT began working with key stakeholders from New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey, most of whom are still involved in the project. Working with the Committee of Methadone Program Administrators, Inc., a feasibility/planning study was conducted to explore whether and how a centralized, Web-based database could provide the means to help ensure patients can receive their medication safely and effectively during a disaster or other service disruption. A brief development project followed. In the fall of 2005, SAMHSA/CSAT funded the current pilot project, now called Digital Access to Medication, or D-ATM. A patient advocate serving on the project’s Steering Committee suggested the name “D-ATM” as representing a Web-based system that will allow patients to access medication in certain situations in almost as routine and dependable fashion as bank machines are used to obtain cash. From the beginning, the project has been guided by four principles: simplicity, affordability, acceptability, and confidentiality, with a particular emphasis on confidentiality. Accordingly, system development has incorporated the protection of personal information as an absolute core requirement. The result is a centralized information source that multiple OTPs can access while protecting highly private, and potentially powerful, information. The current pilot project has had two goals, which are to:
As of May 11, 2007, the project's development activities have been finalized, and it is moving into the pilot phase. Project Milestones and Achievements to Date
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
