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Northeast Node travels to Maine to begin Phase 1 of CTN trial with partner organization

In early October, the Northeast Node of the National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network traveled to its partner network, Penobscot Community Health Care (PCHC), in Bangor, Maine, to collect qualitative data for Phase 1 of the CTN-0062-Ot-A1 study, “Implementing the Tobacco, Alcohol, Prescription medication, and Substance use/misuse (TAPS) Tool in rural federally-qualified health centers: An ancillary study of the “CDE-EHR-PC” (CTN-0062-Ot) Study.”

Alongside its partners at PCHC, the Northeast Node was joined by study team members from the parent CTN trial (CTN-0062-Ot) Jennifer McNeely (Lead Investigator) and Sarah Farkas (Study Coordinator) from the Greater New York Node of the CTN.

The overall aim of this study is to facilitate integrated care for substance use disorders by leveraging electronic health records (EHRs) to support the delivery of screening and interventions in rural primary care settings using the TAPS Tool (the focus of CTN-0059).

The Northeast Node spent four days at three PCHC federally-qualified health center (FQHC) sites participating in the study, observing provider and medical assistant workflow, patient flow, and the current screening and referral systems.

Alongside LI McNeely, the Northeast Node team also conducted focus groups with patients, medical providers, and medical assistants to identify potential barriers and facilitators to the adoption of the TAPS Tool and obtained important feedback on how to best integrate the screening tool and lean decision support into the health system’s EHR. This data will prove valuable for usability testing and implementation in Phase 2 of this ancillary study.

From left to right: Elizabeth Saunders (NE Node), Robert Zavaleta, Deb Durant, Noah Nesin (PCHC), Bethany McLeman (NE Node), Trip Gardner (PCHC), Jennifer McNeely (GNY Node), Alison Carter (PCHC), Olivia Walsh (NE Node), Sarah Farkas (GNY Node), Seamus Higgins (PCHC).

From left to right: Elizabeth Saunders (NE Node), Robert Zavaleta, Deb Durant, Noah Nesin (PCHC), Bethany McLeman (NE Node), Trip Gardner (PCHC), Jennifer McNeely (GNY Node), Alison Carter (PCHC), Olivia Walsh (NE Node), Sarah Farkas (GNY Node), Seamus Higgins (PCHC).