The goal of this project is to continue development of an automated, interactive web-based treatment placement system for substance abuse. The system will be based upon a self-administered version of the ASI and will be a refinement of a system currently being piloted in four TOPPS II states. In Phase I, the items in the existing ASI-based assessment instrument will be empirically evaluated and revised to eliminate redundancies, improve clarity and increase their relevance to treatment placement. Algorithms in the existing automated system will be refined to generate interactive reports that provide more useful guidance to clinicians in making services-based rather than level of care-based treatment placements. The goal of Phase II is to develop prototype versions of the web-based software (both the instrument and the reporting modules) in ways that facilitate future addition of reporting modules and other features useful to administrators and State regulators. The prototypes will be evaluated for functionality and usability in structured field tests, under actual clinical conditions. The results of the field tests will be incorporated and the final product made available for utilization by State governments and other public and private Sector entities. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATION: Consistent with our business development plan, we will market this system to state governments and to substance abuse treatment providers both as a stand-alone product and as a value-added element of our package of public sector consulting services. The system also has potential viability in the private sector. Many of the features that will be attractive to public sector officials and will also appeal to private sector managers of behavioral health care treatment. The instant credibility conferred by use of an instrument with such widespread name and scientific recognition (the ASI) will be of great value to the marketing of this web-based planning and placement system.
