Health data on the front lines: Data-driven decision-making for New York city’s opioid overdose epidemic

Since 2000, fatal drug-related overdoses in the United States have increased by 137%, and almost two-thirds of drug overdose deaths now involve opioids including prescription medications and heroin. The opioid epidemic could result in the deaths of nearly a half million Americans over the next decade and is currently the leading cause of death among Americans under 50 years old. A barrier to addressing this problem is that the causes and consequences of opioid misuse affect multiple policy domains and addressing contributing factors in isolation may have adverse consequences: for example, interventions to prevent “doctor shopping” could increase deaths by pushing consumers to purchase opioids on the black market that may be contaminated with fentanyl. In 2012, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg convened a task force to address the abuse of painkillers. This initial formation led to the development of the RxStat data collaborative, a network of over 20 city, state, and federal public health and public safety agencies who examine local data to monitor population-level indicators and perform data analytics for evidence-based decision-making. Using these data also helps these stakeholders develop shared understandings of the local opioid overdose epidemics, thereby enabling creative policy approaches and improving implementation. In this full-day, interactive workshop, we will use RxStat as a case study to explore various perspectives, challenges, and opportunities to use diverse health data to convene stakeholders and develop tailored solutions to intractable health issues.