InSight: A major public health initiative
Alcohol and drug use is a medical issue.
It’s time we treated it like one.
Our founder led a major initiative to infuse an effective screening practice throughout the US healthcare system.
Recognizing a Critical Need
Before InSight, there was no standard screening practice in place across the medical community to address the impact of alcohol and drugs in the emergency or primary care setting, despite the following statistics:
Alcohol and drugs account for 25% of the 2 million deaths in the US every year, more than any other preventable health problem.
About half of all trauma patients screen positive for alcohol and drugs.
Alcohol and drug use is directly or indirectly responsible for one third of all emergency room visits.
Thanks to the InSight program, emergency centers and primary care settings have become the nexus of a nationwide effort to help reduce the impact of alcohol and drugs on public health.
A Federally Funded Pilot Program
SBIRT (Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment) is a simple yet comprehensive public health practice aimed at identifying patients who have, or may be at risk of developing, a substance use disorder, and providing interventions and treatment where necessary.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), initiated a five-year pilot program at eleven sites around the country to model best practices for infusing SBIRT into the primary care setting. The Texas program was a collaboration between:
• Texas Dep’t of State Health Services
• UT Addiction Research Institute
• UT Health Science Center
• Baylor College of Medicine
• Harris County Hospital District
• The Council on Alcohol and Drugs
Brand Naming and Design
Our principal designer named the program InSight and designed a brand identity that was memorialized in a formal brand guidance document.
Communication Plan
A detailed plan was developed to communicate the InSight message consistently and persuasively, so that leaders in all the institutions agreed on its importance, providers could easily implement it, and patients would view it as a non-threatening effort to improve their medical treatment.
The Plan guided the development of all messaging, as well as strategies for educating each audience on InSight’s relevance to their respective concerns.
Three Key Audiences: Influencers, Providers and the Public
Influencers
Hospital administrators and officials had the responsibility of greenlighting changes within their institutions and legitimizing the concepts and practices the program introduced. Presentation materials were developed in coordination with key InSight SMEs. Our principals helped present the concepts to hospital leadership, emphasizing the need to support a common vision among partner institutions.
We also wrote and produced an institutional brochure that explained the program in terms of public health benefits.
Healthcare Providers
Medical staff in the partner institutions were responsible for infusing new practices into their care routines. They needed to understand the medical implications of alcohol and drugs, and to learn how to implement SBIRT practices.
Training materials and sessions were developed to help ensure consistent messaging as the practice was infused throughout the system.
Materials included a brochure that explained the concept, a lanyard card with the specific steps to follow to do SBIRT screenings in every patient interaction, and InSight-branded materials such as prescription pads.
The Public
Patient brochures in Spanish and English and posters displayed throughout Harris County Hospital District facilities communicated to emergency and primary care patients that alcohol and drugs are a medical issue, and they can trust their doctors to provide unbiased, medical advice on how they might affect their care and their long-term health.
Impact
During the course of the program, InSight provided SBIRT services to thousands of patients. Documented results show InSight reduces alcohol and drug use and emergency room visits related to alcohol and drugs.
Over 50,000 patients were screened in the first year of the program. Around 17% screened positive and received an intervention. Patients who received InSight services reported the following results in their six-month follow-up visit:
71% of drinkers reduced the number of days they drank alcohol.
85% of binge drinkers reduced heavy drinking days and 68% reported no heavy drinking days in their last 30 days.
89% of drug users reduced the days they used, and 80% reported no usage in their last 30 days.
76% of patients assessed as needing referral to treatment perceived their general health had improved.
The program continues to serve patients and educate the medical community within Baylor College of Medicine.
More importantly, SBIRT protocols are being adopted in primary and emergency care facilities nationwide.
What People Are Saying
InSight represents a tremendous opportunity to make real progress against the impact alcohol and drugs can have on our already overburdened system. We can reduce operating costs and help people live better lives, and that’s what medicine is all about.
Kenneth Maddox, MD
Chief of Staff, Ben Taub General Hospital
What I notice is that people are more receptive when they hear it from a doctor or nurse. There’s less stigma, less judgment. People are more willing to accept help when they see it as a health issue rather than a character issue.
Charlene Dewey, MD, M.Ed., FACP
Associate Professor of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine
Director of Smoking Cessation, Ben Taub General Hospital
Tim Johnson created brilliant brand messaging that made clear a complex idea to a diverse audience. His efforts resulted in a major success for the institutions involved, and made a long-term positive impact on the practice of medicine.
Scott Basinger, PhD
Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine
InSight Program Advisor
A detailed brand strategy and communication plan produced a program that has influenced healthcare nationwide.