As you may know, last September, Fast-Tracker for Substance Use Disorder (SUD) http://www.fast-trackermn.org/, Minnesota’s first searchable online tool to facilitate quicker access to SUD treatment became “live”. Now individuals, family members, detox staff, assessors, physicians, primary care clinics, treatment staff, and others, can search this site to find real-time availability of statewide substance use disorder services - a critical element of a modern SUD system of care. The website can help people find YOUR program and assist YOUR staff in finding resources for individuals they are working with.

As of this writing, 329 licensed programs of a possible 480 (licensed 245G, Rule 32, Tribal and border state sites) are registered on http://www.fast-trackermn.org/!  Unfortunately, only a small number of programs are regularly updating their treatment openings.  Since this is a priority of this work, we would appreciate hearing any ideas you may have on how to improve daily updates from program staff that confirms treatment opening status.

Our 1st goal is for 100% of these licensed programs to be listed on Fast-Tracker. So if you are not yet registered, please register today. Remember there is NO cost for programs to be listed on the site and registration is easy and only takes 10 minutes. All you, or someone on your staff needs to do to register is call (651-426-6347) or email fasttrackermnsud@gmail.com Ellie at the Fast-Tracker office. 

Our 2nd and vital goal is for everyone to update their treatment openings DAILY. Doing this takes less than 5 minutes, and now only requires a “yes” or “no” regarding your current treatment openings.

IMPORTANT:  ALL programs please ensure you have selected ANY/ALL of the items in the drop-down section of “Services Provided” that apply to the services your program provides, complete all requested information on the registration form AND take advantage to add any additional program details in the “Program Notes” section.

Together with Fast-Tracker staff, we continue to expand outreach efforts to inform the public, medical providers, related professional associations and SUD providers, and gather input for continuous improvement efforts to the site, as well as increase new program listings and DAILY updates of treatment openings.

Success Stories we’ve heard to-date include a new residential provider in the northwest region of Minnesota whose last five referrals came from detox staff who found treatment openings via Fast-Tracker; County assessors regularly utilizing the site for referrals; the Rural Aids Action Network (RAAN) posts a flyer with the current number of statewide residential treatment openings, and Fast-Tracker contact info, on an office bulletin board so invidivuals who come in for naloxone and/or syringe exchange are made aware of this resource; several treatment providers are disseminating Fast-Tracker info in newsletters and at community meetings.  In addition, the public can now access Fast-Tracker on the “Get Help Now” page of our “Know the Dangers” website http://knowthedangers.com/get-help-now/                        

Next week, on May 17th from 11am- 11:45am we’ll provide another WebEx demonstration of Fast-Tracker. To register for this demonstration please use the link below: https://mndhs.webex.com/mndhs/onstage/g.php?MTID=e93fdb39ed73bc261b8cc9abda3741ff4  

And if you haven’t gone onto the site, please check it out!  Just click here http://sud.fast-trackermn.org/, peruse the “Find Treatment” tab at the top of the page to search by program, city, county, zip or key word, or view the Additional Resources. Click on “STR Opioid Grantees” and “Helpful Info” at the top of the page for a wealth of resources, and if you aren’t registered, just click on “FT Admin Login” tab to begin.  

If you have any questions, suggestions or would like to request a presentation from DHS and Fast-Tracker staff, please contact, Cindy Swan-Henderlite at cindy.swan-henderlite@state.mn.us or 651-431-2463.  

And please, forward this message to colleagues and stakeholder partners. Quicker access to treatment will save lives!

Thank you.