Ohio Launches New Data Dashboards to Report Overdose, Substance-Use Measures

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine today announced that the state has launched new data dashboards to better track and report data on overdose deaths and other substance-use related measures for all 88 Ohio counties.

These statewide dashboards were adopted and expanded from dashboards created through the National Institutes of Health-funded HEALing Communities Study -- the largest implementation study ever conducted in addiction research -- aimed at investigating how tools for preventing and treating opioid misuse, opioid use disorder (OUD), and opioid overdose are most effective at the local level.

Through the study, researchers at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and College of Medicine initially developed community-tailored, data-driven dashboards that included opioid overdose deaths and other opioid use disorder-related measures for 18 counties in Ohio.

Using the public health data in these dashboards, communities partnered with researchers to determine which evidence-based interventions to implement to reduce overdoses and opioid misuse. Based on the success of these dashboards in the initial 18 counties in the study, the State of Ohio with RecoveryOhio has now implemented them statewide.

"Expanding the HEALing Communities Study dashboards to all 88 Ohio counties provides invaluable data that will allow local organizations and communities to better plan for their needs as they battle this public health crisis in our state -- and ultimately save lives," said Governor DeWine.

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