Using Data to Guide Action in Response to the Public Health Crisis of Opioid Overdoses

Clinical systems, payers, and government agencies collect vast amounts of health-related data for program planning, financial monitoring, compliance, and quality improvement, but leaders and clinicians can find it challenging to integrate different sources of data to create a more in-depth understanding of the multiple factors that impact the health outcomes of the populations they serve. A better appreciation of this data can allow effective targeting of interventions to improve health outcomes and decrease waste and inefficiency. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health offers a case study of an integrated data warehouse that was established to inform the state's response to the opioid epidemic, including awareness campaigns, policy decisions, and clinical guidance, using an approach that successfully halted the climb in opioid-related overdose deaths and that can be applied to other health outcomes and adapted to improve outcomes of a panel of patients within a clinical setting or system.