Data has emerged as a crucial weapon in the battle against the overdose epidemic in the United States. Government agencies nationwide are grappling with social issues such as gun violence, gang activity, burglaries and homelessness to go along with the enduring overdose crisis. Addressing these issues requires using data to
Dedicated people, funding and data analytics can join forces to battle the opioid epidemic.
I was recently honored to share the stage with government and medical leaders to discuss ways to impact the nation’s opioid epidemic. Hosted by The Washington Post, this event included often spirited conversations on ways to solve this national crisis. As the medical director for SAS US Government, I have
The headline from the Newark Star-Ledger tells the story: “N.J. drug overdose deaths in 2018 on a record-shattering pace.” The opioid crisis continues to grow in New Jersey. From July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2017, the state saw a 34.7 percent increase in the number of opioid-related deaths, a
My buddy Rick Wicklin recently pointed me towards an animation of some opioid prescription rate data for Illinois. And, of course, I decided we needed a similar animation for North Carolina (with a few improvements...) Here's the original, and here are the problems that jump out at me: Counties with
A new book from SAS guides public sector leaders in the use of data to address a wide range of state and local government challenges. Each chapter deals with critical issues facing our country, including the opioid epidemic, child abuse, spiraling health care costs, prison overcrowding, education reform, rampant fraud and the
Criminal enterprises are tapping into the lucrative opioid business through creative schemes that are less likely to be identified as opioid abuse, misuse or diversion. One of the latest schemes? Auto insurance fraud. First, some background… While extensive progress has been made in establishing, improving, and mandating prescription drug monitoring
Lately I've seen several articles about drug overdose deaths being on the increase. But I didn't really like the graphs in those articles, so I tried to create some better ones using SAS ... For example, here's a map from the National Center for Health Statistics website (see the 3rd dashboard/tab
