Cincinnati, OH – Sep 12, 2018: Cordata Community, a leader in care coordination and patient engagement technology designed for addiction and other community health issues, is pleased to announce the release of the first version of a data model to define the efficacy of community based opioid and substance use disorder efforts. The data model is an artifact produced by the Opioid Response Intervention Network (ORIN), a collaborative group that includes more than a dozen community response teams, across four Midwestern states.

The Opioid Response Intervention Network (ORIN) is the first step in a data-driven path to determining success of community-based teams, often made up of some combination of law enforcement, Fire, EMS, treatment providers and peer coaches. Initially spearheaded by Cordata, the network includes a host of public entities in the Midwest collaborating with technology experts. The primary goal of ORIN is promoting the consistent collection of data so that different approaches can be compared and analyzed. A common data dictionary and model is essential for the scientific analysis that will produce validated results in opioid response.

Having put their technology to work in this area more than a year ago and now having expanded across four states, Cordata found that teams who were using this technology to coordinate their activities and collect key data did not organize their process around the same milestones. Also, where milestones were common, the definition of achievement of the milestone still varied, making the data difficult to compare.

“Addiction is a disease that profoundly affects the brain and cognitive decision making and the road to recovery is very long, often requiring many recurrent episodes of treatment,” said Laura Venerable, Director of Cordata Products who currently oversees the common data model. “We need comparative data to assist our community responders in finding the most successful paths to treatment for those affected and collecting commonly defined data is the first step.”

Recognizing that data collection about opioid response is in the early stages, ORIN has chosen to divide the data into two categories, the essential set and the extended set. The essential set is the minimum data that should be collected when engaging an individual about opioid usage. It is geared toward organizations who are resource or time constrained, but it also provides the backbone for evaluating volume and resource utilization across all community teams, regardless of size or funding. Once communities are successfully collecting the essential data set and as their funding increases, they can move to deeper analysis patterns using data collected in the extended data set standard. While still being vetted by ORIN, the extended data set will enable comparative research into risks, efficacy, and ancillary services.

“We are so proud to have been able to participate with our outstanding community teams across the Midwest to start this important undertaking,” said Cordata’s founder and CEO, Gary Winzenread. “With so much Federal funding being focused on Opioid Use Disorder (OUD), we think it’s important to establish a common data infrastructure – not just for OUD but for Substance Use Disorder more broadly – that can ensure this money is invested where efficacy is at its highest. Let’s not all start from scratch as we organize our community response. We have a growing base of information, methods and processes that can accelerate efficacy for everyone. It is this spirit of cooperation that I am most hopeful and proud of.”

Cordata has stated their intention to organize and facilitate this team in this pursuit, but has no interest in owning the information, methods or intellectual property that result from the effort. As further progress is made in both the essential and extended data sets, Cordata will continue to push this information out for wide adoption of the common data definitions.

To learn more about the Opioid Response Intervention Network (ORIN), click here.

About Cordata Community

Cordata Community develops and delivers innovative and intuitive technology for outreach-driven care coordination and patient engagement to address critical community health issues and improve the health of underserved and uninsured populations. Our people-centric, cloud-based software platform and mobile app connect healthcare organizations, government agencies, community groups and resources, law enforcement and other stakeholders in public and community health. Our tools are designed to address addiction and behavioral health, hepatitis C, HIV and AIDS, foster care and child services and other challenging areas.