SPiER gets Four Pines Fund support for suicide-safer care technology

SPiER at Zero Overdose has received support from Four Pines Fund to improve how health technology systems capture and share suicide-related information across care settings. The funding is aimed at helping health organizations and vendors strengthen suicide prevention workflows and expand evidence-based care nationwide. Why it matters: - Suicide-related information is often fragmented across electronic health records, health information exchanges, and other systems. - That gap can prevent providers from seeing key risk information when people move between care settings. - SPiER’s work is meant to make suicide-safer care easier to deliver at scale across health care, behavioral health, and community-based organizations. What happened: - SPiER at Zero Overdose received support from Four Pines Fund to advance suicide-safer care through health technology. - The funding will help SPiER improve how critical suicide-related information is captured, shared, and used across care systems. - Four Pines Fund said the program is one of five grants it made in 2026 to accelerate the national implementation of effective suicide care practices in health organizations. - More information is available at Four Pines Fund . The details: - SPiER will use the support to identify system gaps, develop practical guidance, and support health technology improvements. - The project also aims to make suicide-safer care easier to implement across diverse settings. - SPiER works with electronic health records, health information exchanges, care organizations, technology vendors, and implementation partners. - The initiative focuses on foundational system changes instead of one-off local builds. - Kelly Samuelson said working with vendors at the system level helps more organizations access suicide-safer care support without rebuilding site by site. - Virna Little said effective suicide care should not depend on workarounds and that care teams need systems that make risk information visible and help people stay connected across settings. Between the lines: - The grant signals growing attention to the technology layer behind suicide prevention, not just frontline clinical workflows. - SPiER is betting that better data movement can improve continuity of care, coordination, and risk identification. - The approach could have broader reach because it targets infrastructure used by millions of people, not a single clinic or health system. What’s next: - SPiER plans to continue working on tools and guidance that help organizations implement suicide-safer care in daily practice. - The project will keep pushing for better information-sharing so critical suicide-related information follows the person across care settings. - SPiER aims to help evidence-based suicide prevention practices spread more consistently nationwide. - More information about SPiER is available at the SPiER project .