Pennsylvania is launching an online opioid data dashboard that will provide a resource for a wide spectrum of people who are struggling against the ongoing opioid crisis.
The opioid data dashboard is one of the strategies being undertaken by Pennsylvania’s Opioid Operational Command Center, which was created in January by Governor Tom Wolf as he declared the opioid crisis to be a public health emergency for the state. The declaration of a public health emergency allowed for the expansion of addiction recovery treatment, as well as the development of other strategies to combat substance abuse in Pennsylvania.
This new tool for organizing against addiction follows several other strategies implemented by the Keystone state in an effort to combat the opioid crisis. Previous efforts to turn the tide on the epidemic of addiction have included the propagation of new guidelines for the safe prescription of opioids to adolescent and pediatric populations.
Pennsylvania has taken advantage of federal funds provided to the state through the 21st Century Cures Act, a bipartisan piece of legislation which was passed in December 2015, to stay on the front lines of the country’s battle against the opioid crisis. Pennsylvania Physician General Rachel Levine, MD, signed a standing order for the potentially life-saving medication naloxone, which can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.
The new Opioid Operational Command Center is designed to organize incoming streams of data about the opioid crisis. By providing a single dashboard where details about Pennsylvania’s battle against addiction can be gathered. This allows citizens to see the state’s efforts in combating the opioid crisis, while allowing local officials and other entities involved in the addiction recovery efforts the chance to analyze data and determine where their efforts would best be expended.
