Established through a secure, confidential data-sharing agreement between NaphCare and the NaphCare Charitable Foundation, REACH is enabling ethically grounded, privacy-protected research to inform and advance correctional healthcare nationwide.

The NaphCare Charitable Foundation, Inc., a nonprofit dedicated to advancing the safety and wellbeing of communities through research, educational programs, and scholarship opportunities, introduces the Registry of Electronic Archives in Correctional Healthcare (REACH) database. This is the most comprehensive national dataset on the health needs and care delivery of incarcerated individuals to date. Built on electronic medical records from more than 1.25 million justice-involved individuals, REACH is poised to become a critical resource for policymakers, health systems, and correctional leaders aiming to improve patient care outcomes and reduce disparities.

The REACH database was established, in part, to better understand the evolving landscape and historical trends of correctional healthcare, as well as inform predictive models to facilitate growing healthcare service demands. Primary REACH database elements include medications (or agents) prescribed to individuals while in custody, as well as demographic variables, discharge histories, and various clinical indicators.

The NaphCare Charitable Foundation anticipates future research and analyses using the REACH database to deepen understanding of care patterns and support data-driven improvements in correctional healthcare.

Just this year, the Foundation has published new research based on REACH data. The first, published in Health & Justice Journal revealed how medical, behavioral, and demographic factors significantly relate to jail length of stay in the United States.

Most recently, they published research in Scientific Reports that examined psychotropic prescription trends in jails from 2013–2023, revealing major increases across nearly all medication classes. These insights, drawn from the REACH database, reflect both the growing mental health challenges in correctional settings and the dedication of our research partner, NaphCare, to understanding and addressing them.

“The Foundation is committed to advancing correctional healthcare by using real-world data to better understand the needs of incarcerated individuals,” said Amber Simpler, PhD, ABPP, Executive Director of Behavioral Health Research for the NaphCare Charitable Foundation. “It’s an honor to contribute insights that can drive targeted improvements in care quality and equity across correctional systems.”

The data of both studies originate from correctional facilities across the country contracted with NaphCare, all of which use its proprietary TechCare platform, the first electronic health record system (EHR) designed specifically for correctional healthcare. Participating sites used standardized clinical policies and procedures, which helps ground REACH with consistent, high-quality documentation that can lead to evidence-based improvements in correctional healthcare.

Parties interested in collaborating can contact the NaphCare Charitable Foundation at the following website: https://www.naphcarecharitablefoundation.org/research/reach-database.

About NaphCare Charitable Foundation

The NaphCare Charitable Foundation was established in 2011 for charitable, benevolent, educational and philanthropic purposes. The Foundation’s mission is to advance the safety and wellbeing of communities through research, educational programs, and scholarship opportunities. Since its inception, the NaphCare Charitable Foundation has contributed over $3.5 million to scholarship opportunities and other initiatives. Additional information can be found on the organization’s website: www.naphcarecharitablefoundation.org.

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