HEROES

Houston Emergency Opioid Engagement System

Project Summary:

HEROES is an innovative model incorporating home outreach to individuals who have overdosed from opioids, rapid initiation of addiction treatment medication in the emergency department, and intensive behavioral and peer support services for individuals with opioid use disorder.

Using peer, behavioral, and medical interventions, HEROES aims to improve treatment outcomes and long-term recovery through more assertive emergency-based mechanisms.

Population:

Adults with opioid use disorder

Outcomes:

30-day treatment and recovery rates, number of lives saved.

Enrollment:

Began April 2018

Study Team:

Kimberly Chambers, MD (Clinical Director); Meredith O’Neal (Research Assistant); and 20 other faculty, researchers, and staff

Presentations:

2019 American Medical Informatics Association Annual Conference; 2019 International Conference on Opioids; 2019 American Society for Addiction Medicine Annual Conference

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Funding and Collaborators:

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Project Leadership:

James R. Langabeer II, PhD, EdD, MBA, EMT, FAHA

James Langabeer is internationally recognized for quality and outcomes research in emergency medicine and public health. He is a tenured full professor with joint appointments at the McGovern Medical School (Emergency Medicine), UT School of Public Health (Health Management and Policy), and the School of Biomedical Informatics. His research focuses on emergency, cardiovascular, and addiction medicine. Dr. Langabeer is a Fellow of the American Heart Association and the American College of Healthcare Executives.

He is the Associate Editor for Western Journal of Emergency Medicine and the national Chair of the American Heart Association’s Ambulatory Quality committee.