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ISDS 2018 Conference Abstracts

Using Drug Overdose Syndromic Surveillance Data to 
Impact Local Public Health Action
Mandy Billman* and Kayley Dotson
Indiana State Department of Health, Indianapolis, IN, USA

Objective
The overall objective of this session is to discuss opportunities to 

use drug overdose syndromic surveillance (SyS) data to encourage 
action among local public health partners.

After this roundtable discussion, participants will be able to:
-Identify opportunities to promote use of drug overdose SyS data

to their health partners.
-Plan for potential drug overdose public health interventions.
-Develop relationships with roundtable attendees to continue the

conversation and sharing of ideas about use of drug overdose SyS 
data.

Introduction
Since 2008, drug overdose deaths exceeded the number of motor 

vehicle traffic-related deaths in Indiana and the gap continues to 
widen1. As the opioid crisis rages on in the United States the federal 
government is providing funding opportunities to states, but it often 
takes years for best practices to be developed, shared, and published.

Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) has developed a 
standard process for monitoring and alerting local health partners 
of increases in drug overdoses captured in Indiana’s syndromic 
surveillance system (ESSENCE). ISDH is launching a pilot project 
to encourage local partners to start a conversation about overdose 
response capabilities and planning efforts in their community. 
Other states have published articles about drug overdose syndromic 
surveillance (SyS) data being used to inform local public health 
action, however, the local overdose response activity details were 
vague 2,3. With the opioid crisis continuing to spiral out of control in 
the United States, it is imperative to work together as local, state, and 
national partners to find potential solutions to this crisis.

Keywords
Opioid; Drug Overdose; Syndromic Surveillance; Local Public Health 
Response; ED data

References
1 Overdose Prevention [Internet]. Indianapolis: Indiana State Department 

of Health; 2017. Indiana Special Emphasis Report: Drug Overdose 
Deaths 1999-2015; August 2017. [cited 2017 Sept 25]. Available 
from: http://www.in.gov/isdh/files/2017_SER_Drug_Deaths_Indiana.
pdf

2 Daly E, Dufault K, Swenson D, Lakevicius P, Metcalf E, Chan B. Use of 
emergency department data to monitor and respond to an increase in 
opioid overdoses in New Hampshire, 2011-2015. Public Health Rep. 
2017; 132(suppl): 73S-79S. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.
nih.gov/pubmed/?term=28692390

3 Ising A, Proescholdbell S, Harmon K, Sachdeva N, Marshall S, Waller 
A. Use of syndromic surveillance data to monitor poisonings and drug 
overdoses in state and local public health agencies. Inj Prev. 2016
Apr; 22 Suppl 1: i43-9. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.
gov/pubmed/?term=27044495

*Mandy Billman
E-mail: abillman@isdh.in.gov

Online Journal of Public Health Informatics * ISSN 1947-2579 * http://ojphi.org * 10(1):e192, 2018