The New Jersey Department of Health (DOH) today announced that it has launched an Opioid Data Dashboard, designed to provide public health practitioners, researchers, policy-makers, and the public with a key tool in their fight against opioid addiction. The dashboard is located online at https://www.state.nj.us/health/populationhealth/opioid/.
DOH Commissioner Dr. Shereef Elnahal noted that the Opioid Data Dashboard currently features detailed drug-related deaths, Prescription Monitoring Program statistics, naloxone (Narcan®) administrations, hospital visits, treatment admissions and discharges, and more.
“Improving public access to opioid-related data trends is vital to stemming the tide of this type of addiction in New Jersey,” Dr. Elnahal said. “More than 100 people die every day in the United States from opioid-related drug overdoses, and it is our sincere hope that information contained in the dashboard will guide prevention efforts and lead to data-driven decision making in combatting this devastating epidemic.”
Data on the dashboard is comprised of information provided by multiple sources, including DOH; and the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office, among others.
DOH’s Opioid Data Dashboard complements real-time data disseminated through the Office of the New Jersey Coordinator for Addiction Response and Enforcement Strategies’ (NJCARES) website. That website displays county-specific counts of overdose deaths, naloxone administrations, and opioid prescriptions. NJCARES is housed within the Office of the Attorney General.
“New Jersey’s efforts to tackle the opioid epidemic depend on smart, data-driven policies and collaboration between government agencies,” said Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal.” Drawing on information that the Office of the Attorney General has posted on our NJ CARES website, the Department of Health’s opioid data dashboard illustrates what we can do when we work together.”
The DOH Opioid Data Dashboard provides access to additional information from hospital discharge data, uniform crime reports, and substance abuse treatment data.
Specifically, the DOH data dashboard:
- Displays trends on benzodiazepine, opioid, stimulant prescriptions, naloxone administrations, drug-related hospital visits, crime statistics, substance abuse treatment and drug-related deaths
- Provides data in the form of numbers, rates, and percentages
- Allows users to filter data by drug type, year, zip code, county, age, gender, race, and health insurance coverage (payment type)
- Allows users to view data in tabular and map formats and track trends over time and by geographic area and zip code
- Allows users to export estimates for further analysis
- Provides links for the public to learn about opioids, the history of opioid epidemic and resources available for individuals at risk of an overdose.
The Opioid Data Dashboard is funded through a Data-Driven Prevention Initiative (DPPI) Grant received from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
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