Join us for a Zoom webinar on Monday, June 9, at 2:30 pm ET with Cantata Health Solutions that explores overdose safety planning as a core prevention strategy and how digital tools like their Arize EHR can support overdose prevention.
Each May, SAMHSA’s National Prevention Week gives us a moment to reflect—not just on our progress, but on the urgent work still ahead. As rates of mental illness, substance use disorders, suicide, and drug overdose remain alarmingly high, the stakes have never been greater. At the same time, proposed federal budget cuts and the restructuring of critical agencies like SAMHSA threaten to weaken the very foundation of our national prevention infrastructure. In this climate, prevention must not be sidelined.
This year’s National Prevention Week resonates more than ever: prevention is not a program or a one-week campaign—it is an enduring framework for action, rooted in equity, community, and compassion. It must be reaffirmed as a core public health strategy with an unwavering commitment to save lives.
At Zero Overdose, prevention is at the heart of everything we do. Our mission is to eliminate preventable overdose events and deaths by embedding overdose risk screening and Overdose Safety Planning© (ODSP) into systems of care that often overlook these critical practices. Through our groundbreaking partnership with Cantata, we are bringing this mission to life in a practical, scalable way by integrating overdose prevention into their Arize EHR platform.
Technology as a Prevention Tool
Did you know that 66% of drug overdose deaths involved at least one potential opportunity for intervention and 15% were in some form of mental health or substance use disorder treatment?
Too often, technology has been seen as a barrier to meaningful engagement. But when designed intentionally, platforms like Arize can become powerful enablers—underscoring the critical importance of embedding timely risk assessments and safety planning into EHRs where clinical decisions are made.
By integrating Overdose Safety Planning (ODSP) into Cantata’s Arize platform, we are embedding prevention into the digital workflows that providers rely on daily. This integration includes clinical decision support (CDS) tools—such as automated alerts, evidence-informed prompts, and best practice checklists—that guide clinicians to assess overdose risk, develop individualized safety plans, and ensure timely follow-up. These built-in notifications and reminders reduce the risk of missed opportunities to intervene, making prevention a seamless part of everyday clinical care rather than a separate task or burden.
At a systems level, Arize enables organizations to create patient registries and stratify risk across populations, supporting more effective care coordination and outreach for individuals at elevated risk of overdose. Through embedded analytics and predictive modeling capabilities, providers can identify patterns, anticipate needs, and allocate resources more efficiently. This positions ODSP not just as a clinical tool, but as a strategic driver of population health management, quality improvement, and value-based care transformation.
We have learned that prevention must be:
- Timely – Identifying and addressing overdose risk before a crisis occurs.
- Integrated – Part of the clinical workflow, not an afterthought.
- Person-centered – Tailored to the unique strengths, risks, and needs of each individual.
Engagement and Advocacy: A Renewed Focus
As we mark National Prevention Week, we are also doubling down on two key strategies, engagement and advocacy.
- Engagement means ensuring our interventions are not only evidence-informed, but culturally responsive and relationship-driven. We must connect with individuals in ways that honor their lived experiences, particularly those from historically marginalized communities.
- Advocacy requires raising our voices for policy and system-level changes that make overdose safety planning a clinical standard. That includes securing funding for overdose prevention, changing reimbursement structures, and ensuring that prevention tools are universally accessible.
As communities navigate the evolving overdose crisis, prevention cannot be an afterthought—it must be an integral part of the healthcare system.
As we recognize National Prevention Week, let this be a call to raise awareness and a call to action. The partnership between Zero Overdose and Cantata Health Solutions exemplifies what’s possible when prevention is woven into the fabric of care, not reserved for moments of crisis. By embedding overdose safety planning into clinical workflows and advancing technologies that center equity, engagement, and actionable data, we are demonstrating what it takes to create systems that not only respond to crisis—but prevent it, equitably, proactively, and at scale.
Prevention is Connection: Scaling Overdose Safety Planning Through Technology and Partnerships [Webinar]
In honor of National Prevention Week, we are proud to partner with Cantata to host a live webinar.
Webinar Title: Prevention is Connection: Scaling Overdose Safety Planning Through Technology and Partnerships
Date: June 9, 2025
Time: 2:30PM EST
Webinar Objectives:
· Understand the role of overdose safety planning as a core prevention strategy
· Explore how digital tools like Cantata’s Arize platform can support prevention workflows
· Engage in a live Q&A to discuss practical implementation strategies
Moderator: Christy Winter, Product Manager, Cantata Health Solutions
Featured Speakers: Dr. Virna Little, Co-Founder, Zero Overdose and Dr. Jorge Petit, Strategy and Development Officer at ZO and Chief Clinical Advisor at CHS
Join the webinar to learn how partnerships, technology, and advocacy are converging to make prevention more actionable and equitable. Attendees will understand the role of overdose safety planning as a core prevention strategy, explore how digital tools like Arize can support prevention workflows, and engage in a live Q&A to discuss practical implementation strategies.
Register here and be part of the movement to ensure prevention is more than a promise—it’s a practice.
