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/ Canadian Government Executive
// November 2016
Data Management
HowData Analytics Can
Combat the Opioid Crisis
Greg
Horne
E
arlier this year the Ontario
Ministry of Health announced
that it will delist high-dose opi-
oids in January 2017 in order to
help reduce the number of opioid over-
dose deaths in the province. While this
is a start, addressing the opioid epidemic
will require a comprehensive, data-based
approach that touches all aspects of the
health system, from prevention to treat-
ment and recovery. Data analytics will be
the key.
Proper data management and analysis
can provide a broad spectrum of integrat-
ed solutions. It can help develop better
treatment protocols, enable pharmacies
to identify dispensing anomalies, and
allow large hospital systems and public
health agencies to better analyze the pos-
sible outcomes of well-intentioned initia-
tives. But for any solution to be effective,
each of these groups must work together
by sharing data and creating a flow of in-
formation.
Where to Start?
Fighting this epidemic is a highly com-
plex challenge that requires a variety of
players to collaborate in order to fully un-
derstand and address the problem. The
key health and government groups that
must be involved include:
• Public Health Agency of Canada, as
well as local substance abuse and men-
tal health service groups whose mandate
is to strengthen intergovernmental col-
laboration on public health and facilitate
national approaches to public health
policy and planning
• Provincial health agencies that set local
policy and standards for physician edu-
cation
• Pharmaceutical companies, distributors,
and pharmacies that constitute the phys-
ical supply chain
• Insurance companies and government
services that pay for the prescriptions
• Treatment centres that are at the front-
line of assisting the addicted
• Law enforcement agencies that deal
with opioid abusers and can influence
whether they are charged or treated
• Physicians who are responsible for pre-
scribing the drugs
All of these players have access to data
that can be useful to one another. Data-
bases of written and filled prescriptions,
electronic health records, and emergency
room records are all key pieces of the data
puzzle the come directly from the health-
care system’s frontlines.
Working together to
address a complex
information management
issue
Information on opioid use and abuse is par-
tial, fragmented, and often not actionable. If
stakeholders worked together to share and
more effectively manage the data owned
by each of these players, the origins of the
problem would be better understood. The
resulting insights could help make smart
policy changes while motivating physicians
and patients to change their behaviours.
Analytics can enable all of these players to
be more forward looking and predictive,
and to avoid unanticipated consequences
of well-intentioned initiatives.