Since its launch in early 2018, Kentucky’s newest innovative tool in the fight against addiction — FindHelpNowKY.org — has served critical, real-time information on available substance use disorder treatment options to more than 6,000 Kentuckians.

It’s an unprecedented digital resource helping to address elevated drug overdose morbidity and mortality rates in the state of Kentucky. The website—which tracks current openings for 181 providers and 446 facilities across the state—has also seen more than 7,600 total visitor sessions since Jan. 1, indicating that many people are return users.

It acts much like a search engine, providing information on the current availability of addiction treatment resources in real-time, effectively enabling more frequent and more rapid admissions to treatment programs. FindHelpNowKY.org is funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and produced by the Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center (KIPRC), the bona fide agent of the Kentucky Department for Public Health.

“The steady surge in visitor statistics is a testament to just how important access to information is in linking individuals with substance use disorders to available treatment,” said Dr. Terry Bunn, director of KIPRC. “People who visit FindHelpNowKY.org can confidentially locate facilities and service providers—who are currently accepting new patients—based on individual determinants like geographic location, cost parameters and the specific type of treatment required. Unlike any digital tool to come before it, FindHelpNowKY.org represents a quantum leap forward in our fight against the addiction epidemic.”

In addition to being the outcome of a dynamic partnership between the CDC and KIPRC, FindHelpNowKY.org has a number of other supporting partners including the University of Kentucky College of Public Health, the offices of Governor Matt Bevin and the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet.