Turning On Harm Reduction Goals

Vista now has a “harm reduction” goal setting feature, allowing patients to indicate goals other than abstinence from substances. Treatment centers can choose the harm reduction goal settings by contacting Vista support via email (support@vista-research-group.net)  or phone (410-757-2811) and letting us know you would like to change from abstinence-based to harm reduction. Once the harm reduction setting is turned on, all patients will be asked about harm reduction goals in the intake questionnaire. 

For patients who are already in treatment and need to adjust their treatment goals, treatment center staff and initiate the process by following the instructions below: 

• Navigate to your patient list by clicking on the “patients” icon on the left side toolbar.
• Find the patient you would like to adjust their goals to reflect harm reduction goals. You can use the search function at the top of the page.
• Click on the three dots to the right of the patient entry and select “Modify Survey.”

• Scroll to the bottom of the Modify Survey page and click on “Allow patients to update harm reduction goals.”

• A pop-up will appear asking if the patient is available to take a survey asking about their goals. If they are available, click “yes,” and a new tab will appear with the brief survey. 

• If the patient is unavailable, a pop-up with a link will appear that can be sent by the treatment center.

Here’s an example of the questions (questions may change best on the indicated substance of choice):