Advocates say updated drug overdose dashboard is an improvement

The Indiana Department of Health has launched two new dashboards, one expanding drug overdose data and the other tracking violent deaths across the state.

Advocates say the new drug overdose dashboard gives the public a better understanding of how opioid use impacts communities. 

The state’s previous dashboard focused only on drug overdoses. The new dashboard adds available resources in each county, the number of opioid prescriptions, and the number of emergency department visits related to drug overdose. 

Jackie Daniels is the director of clinical development for the Indiana Center for Recovery. She said the new data will help the public track things like nonfatal overdoses, which are an indicator of a future fatal overdose. 

“There are a lot of people that lost loved ones that wished they had this information a long time ago,” she said. 

The prescription dashboard can offer insights into communities where high levels of opioids are being prescribed. 

“I don’t think they are all written in a negligent way,” Daniels said. “But I also think that what’s going on there allows us to do some more investigating.”

Like most of the country, Indiana’s drug overdose deaths have been declining. Many advocates attribute that fall to the availability of overdose-reversing drugs like Naloxone. 

Because of that, Daniels said that tracking things like Emergency Room admissions for overdoses is becoming more important. 

“Releases from the hospital are just as important as the death count,” she said. 

Daniels underlined that the data are by no means perfect, there are still overdoses that won’t be captured in the data set. But she’s excited that the state is providing everything in one place. 

A second dashboard catalogues state data on violent deaths - including homicides and suicides.

Contact Health Reporter Benjamin Thorp at bthorp@wfyi.org