Project OPEN Chooses eTransX’ Wellbeing Care Community Solution to Improve Substance Use Disorder Outcomes in Illinois

Healthcare, Behavioral Health, Social Services, and Community Partners Employ eTransX’ Solution to Unify Their Programs, Coordinate Care, and Track Success.

The Project OPEN cross-sector coalition has been working to boost OUD/SUD prevention and recovery improvements in Lee, Ogle, and Whiteside counties of Illinois – bringing together many different community partners to help people through substance use disorder recovery to live healthier, more successful lives. The coalition has been awarded multiple grants, including a $1 million Rural Community Opioid Response Program grant from the federal Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).

As the consortium grew, it became clear there was a need for a shared technology platform which does more than the commonly available referral management systems.  A technology champion group led by Dr. Prati Nag, CMO at KSB Hospital, Aaqil Khan, Manager at KSB Hospital, and Kyle Auman, Public Health Admin of Ogle County, IL began researching available options and even explored the idea of having a technology company build a system for them.  After exploring all options, they decided to use the eTransX Wellbeing Care Community (WCC) system.

Through the HRSA Rural Community Opioid Response Program grants the coalition team worked with eTransX to configure the system to meet the unique needs of the three-county region with a “whole person”, “whole community” approach for scaling the ability of the coalition to make a difference in the lives of those dealing with substance use disorder.

eTransX created the Wellbeing Care Community solution to help similar communities improve health and well-being outcomes by offering an innovative shared information systems platform to scale and manage wellbeing improvement projects.

The WCC solution is specifically designed to address four broad categories – addressing the social determinants of health, addressing efforts to reduce substance use disorders, helping people and families rise out of poverty, and promoting positive children and youth development.  These areas are interrelated and benefit from a shared community-based system which engages both at the household level and at the community-based services level.

James Kleppinger at eTransX reached out to Aaqil Khan at KSB to talk about how WCC could help   Project OPEN.  Aaqil responded, “Nice to hear from you! I love it when others are working in the same space and open to collaborating.”  From there both teams had in-depth discussions about their goals, progress, and roadblocks.  This happened at just the right time, as Aaqil and team were already in the process of looking for a technology solution to connect their partners and manage the program.

Three vendor platforms were vetted during Project OPEN’s Request for Proposal stage.  eTransX’ Wellbeing Care Community was selected because it offered the most complete solution with a high degree of flexibility, backed by a skilled implementation team.

Additionally, eTransX had a 20+ year history in data integration which helps to ensure every partner’s existing software platform can work together with the shared WCC implementation.  Avoiding duplicate date entry and the need to migrate platforms was of utmost importance.  EtransX’ innovative XRunner integration technology was employed to connect with one partner’s archaic Electronic Health Record vendor, bypassing the traditional integration process and saving significant cost.

Aaqil shared, “WCC encompasses SO MANY facets of life, which was clear from the initial demo.  In the very first call, Dr. Nag shared that his job as a physician only represents 10-20% of a person’s overall health.  It is everything else in that person’s life which determines their overall wellbeing.”  Unlike anything on the market today, WCC offers a comprehensive integrated approach to meeting the physical, mental, and social needs of the whole person.  WCC aligns and coordinates all of the moving parts around a person’s complex needs, builds evidence-based success pathways, closes the loop on meeting needs, and breaks through barriers to greater health and wellbeing outcomes.

Project OPEN leadership wants all agencies and partners working together via WCC to solve the gap of operating in silos and poor information sharing.  An ideal future is all families and members of their service population are being regularly screened for social and wellness needs through a person-centric process.  When opportunities are identified and assessed, partner agencies can quickly and efficiently build plans to improve lives.  Resources are limited in rural America, and organizations can better maximize and leverage each other’s strengths when they are a “connected community.”

Riding the wake of the successful WCC implementation for Project OPEN, Kyle Auman has led a team in applying for and ultimately winning a new CDC grant to further expand the work of the consortium into addressing Adverse Childhood Experiences and early youth development.  The eTransX team is excited to continue working with Project OPEN as they expand their work into more areas, and finding creative new ways to overcome their complex challenges.  Working with Project Open, eTransx wants this three-county region to be known and recognized as a model of excellence for helping rural areas improve health and well-being outcomes which in turn will attract additional local, state, and national recognition and funding.

To learn more about the Wellbeing Care Community please request a demo.  We look forward to talking about ways we can help your community!