********** The current health and social services paradigm emphasizes an integrated delivery system in which the basic unit of currency is the referral. Making referrals is a hallmark of social work practice. This positions social workers on the front lines of coordinating patient care. Their skills at relationship building and knowledge of community networks become invaluable to patients, but often time constraints stand in the way of making the best possible referrals. Are there solutions for increasing referral effectiveness? Not surprisingly, technological innovation may provide a sound investment for organizations that deal with challenging populations who have multiple service needs. The research literature and practice wisdom show that technology is increasingly useful in both medical and social work practice (Hodge, Gostin, & Jacobson, 1999; Howard, 1995; Mutschler, 1990). This utility may be extended to building and strengthening referral networks. When appropriately used technology has the capacity to increase efficiency with the advantage of standardized data output. A single application of technology may lead to additional advances, such as linking various types of client services to improve coordination of care. This article describes a three-year intervention project introducing and supporting referral technology in three inner-city health services sites. We detail successes and challenges of the implementation process and provide guidelines for replication in social work practice. We also show how a cooperative partnership between social workers, community organizations, and university researchers may help foster positive change for clients with special needs. INTERVENTION The intervention was designed by a team of applied researchers at the University of Miami School of Medicine in response to reported local concerns about an increase in the number of drug abuse clients who presented with complex health and human services needs. One of the primary aims was to expand and standardize the referral capacity of health and social work professionals through the introduction of technology. The intervention encouraged the use of computer software expressly designed as an information and referral system called Information and Referral Information System, or IRis [R] (Benchmark Enterprises, 1993-2001). Iris [R] provides appropriate referrals for clients using a powerful search engine that scans a database of community services. It also features the capability to standardize client data, computerize reporting forms, and store information about patient referral and service histories. The system was implemented using a three-phase process tailoring the level of change to the respective readiness and available resources at each of three intervention sites. INTERVENTION SITES Three local organizations were selected as participating sites. The final selection was based on data collected from a sample population of 1,500 drug-abusing clients and 300 health and social services program administrators and direct care workers who were interviewed by research staff. (Chitwood, McBride, Metsch, Comerford, & McCoy, 1998; McCoy, Messiah, & Zhao, 2001). Each site represented a different aspect of the health and human services system: a drug abuse treatment center, a primary health care clinic, and a public hospital's emergency services department. All three sites were located within a 10-mile radius. The drug treatment center is a private, nonprofit inpatient facility. The primary health care center is a publicly funded, nonprofit organization specializing in ambulatory care and social services for low-income people. The emergency services department and its corresponding social work office are located in the only publicly funded hospital in the community, which is one of the largest medical centers in the United States. Most drug users in the community eventually present at this hospital because of lack of insurance, transportation, access to other programs, or for expedience. …