By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    physical health
    5 Ways Playing Games Can Improve Neural and Physical Health
    September 9, 2022
    Reasons For Hair Loss and Its Treatment
    Reasons For Hair Loss and Its Treatment
    February 16, 2022
    healthcare organization
    5 Actionable Strategies For Healthcare Organizations
    August 15, 2022
    Latest News
    3 Ways To Deal With Health Issues In Cities With High Pollution
    March 22, 2023
    What Tools Should Your Caregiver Have?
    March 22, 2023
    How to Combat Home Sickness After Moving Abroad
    March 19, 2023
    4 Ways to Recover from a Broken Hip
    March 14, 2023
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    A Whole New Way To Look At Medicine And Healthcare Innovation
    September 28, 2020
    4 Things That Could Happen in Health Reform
    February 5, 2018
    Health In Your 60s: How To Prevent Common Conditions
    August 29, 2019
    Latest News
    What Are Bioidentical Hormones Made With?
    March 23, 2023
    Cover Medical Costs of Child Dog Bites with Legal Specialists
    March 23, 2023
    3 Ways to Improve the U.S. Healthcare System By 2030
    March 14, 2023
    6 Steps To Ensure Speed And Efficiency Of Clinical Studies
    March 14, 2023
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Ending the Opioid Crisis: Could Big Data Help?
Share
Sign In
Notification Show More
Latest News
The Best Natural Sleep Remedies & Aids
The Best Natural Sleep Remedies & Aids
Wellness
Bioidentical Hormones
What Are Bioidentical Hormones Made With?
Medical Education
chemical peels for skin disorders
Chemical Peels Can Do Wonders for Treating Skin Disorders
Skin
health benefits of lip enhancements
Cleveland Clinic Cites Health Benefits of Lip Enhancements
lifestyle
child dog bite lawyer
Cover Medical Costs of Child Dog Bites with Legal Specialists
News
Aa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Aa
Search
Have an existing account? Sign In
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Policy & Law > Health care > Ending the Opioid Crisis: Could Big Data Help?
Health careMedical InnovationsPolicy & LawPublic HealthTechnology

Ending the Opioid Crisis: Could Big Data Help?

Daniel Matthews
Last updated: 2021/02/05 at 8:28 AM
Daniel Matthews
Share
7 Min Read
SHARE

No doubt you?ve heard opioid abuse is raging out of control in America. Look at the news sites each day and you?ll see at least one headline focused on the opioid crisis. The crisis has all the hallmarks of an epidemic, because it kills people indiscriminately and quickly. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, 78 people die everyday from opioid overdoses. And each day, 3,900 people take opioids without a prescription. Unlike a disease, opioid abuse at a widespread level is a matter of choice. While the abusers and addicts may not feel they have much of a choice once they?re hooked, pharmacies, doctors, and drug companies have a choice when it comes to the dissemination of opioids. This is a complex issue. Of course users have a choice to do their best not to get hooked. But what if real pain is what gets them started? Doctors prescribe opioids to help patients deal with all sorts of pain, and a great many patients do indeed need effective pain medication for severe pain. But the data on pharmacy practice doesn?t lie: doctors prescribe enough opioids for every adult in America to possess a bottle of pills whenever they want to get their hands them. About 50 percent of women who end up in a methadone clinic, where they?re treated for opioid addiction, got there because they got hooked on opioids from prescriptions. And 20 percent of prescribed painkiller users share them. That?s how people without prescriptions are getting hooked. No doubt there?s absolutely no need for that many pills floating around. Part of this speaks to the power of addiction. Once a user gets hooked, they?d rather scheme their way into getting more pills than go through withdrawals. Another part speaks to a lack of top-down data strategy and proper monitoring on the part of the healthcare industry. Yet another part speaks to the power of money.

Contents
Big Data Strategy and OpioidsMoney, Data, and the Pharmaceutical Industry

Big Data Strategy and Opioids

The strategy sounds simple enough: monitor data on how often patients are refilling prescriptions, then limit refills based on actual need. This is actually very complicated. It comes down to figuring out who?s lying and who?s not. Who?s telling the truth about their pain and their need for more pills? When subjectivity comes into the mix, it?s very tough to figure out a right or wrong answer. To figure it out, doctors and pharmacies need access to widespread data on past results. They already have prescriptive information, i.e. the medically-accepted information on how long a specific condition will cause severe pain. But if they had accurate, up-to-date statistical information on how long it has taken success cases to recover in the past and cease taking opioids altogether, they could understand when a patient?s refill pattern is an anomaly and a red flag. Then, a patient at the pharmacy window asking for more opioids could be referred back to the doctor, who could diagnose whether the patient actually needs them. Greg Horne, Canada?s National Healthcare Lead, points out that, in order for analytics to have any efficacy against the opioid crisis, all of the stakeholders involved in healthcare ?must work together by sharing data and creating a flow of information.? In America, this type of organization is just not there. A lot of that has to do with money.

Money, Data, and the Pharmaceutical Industry

Drug companies have incentive to keep pumping out opioids, because the money from them keeps flowing in. According to McKinsey & Company, ?Many pharmaceutical companies are wary about investing significantly in improving big-data analytical capabilities, partly because there are few examples of peers creating a lot of value from it.? Yet McKinsey Global Institute estimates big data strategies could pump $100 billion annually into the U.S. healthcare system. In terms of opioids, this makes sense, because prescription opioid abuse is part of $25 billion in excess healthcare costs annually. Unlike the rest of America?s commercial world, the healthcare sector is adverse to risk. Why sink money into R&D involving big data and curbing opioid abuse when the risk may not pay off? Because people are dying, and that?s not good for business. So, McKinsey recommends a number of big data ?prescriptions? for the pharmaceutical industry. Several of these are highly applicable to the opioid crisis:

  • Use smart tech: Smart pills and smart bottles can transmit data on patient drug use, while connected tech can monitor health issues and tell doctors when a patient actually has a problem that require more pills
  • Drop data silos and collaborate: At every level of healthcare, there?s a lot of data available, but it?s not shared between stakeholders; pharmaceutical companies, doctors, hospitals, healthcare providers, pharmacies, and the FDA must share data with the express purpose of ending the opioid crisis
  • Integrate data at each level: Applying data throughout the system would require a centralized database that adheres to confidentiality standards; blockchain could be a candidate for this
  • Use new research, technology and data on efficacy to come up with alternatives: There may be new drugs that would be effective substitutes for opioids, such as certain strains of marijuana

Implementing data-based solutions will take concerted will and effort from legislators and the healthcare industry at large. The pharmaceutical industry may be just as addicted to opioids as the drug abusers themselves. It?s up to the rest of us to stage an intervention.

More Read

valueable healthcare programs

5 Most Valuable Healthcare Programs in 2023

7 Ways Technology is Improving Nursing and Patient Care
The Everest Foundation’s Mission to Support Inclusive Healthcare
Colleges Prove the Huge Benefits of AI in Healthcare Education
The Evolution of Mental Health Technology Helps Treat OCD
TAGGED: opioid abuse, opioid crisis

Sign Up For Daily Newsletter

Be keep up! Get the latest breaking news delivered straight to your inbox.
By signing up, you agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe at any time.
Daniel Matthews September 7, 2017
Share this Article
Facebook Twitter Copy Link Print
Share
By Daniel Matthews
Daniel Matthews is a freelance writer who specializes in tech, business, and finance. You can find him on Twitter @danielmatthews0.
Previous Article Seeking Anxiety Relief Through Music Therapy
Next Article 3 Ways to Get Your Exercise Fix Through Everyday Tasks

Stay Connected

1.5k Followers Like
4.5k Followers Follow
2.8k Followers Pin
136k Subscribers Subscribe

Latest News

The Best Natural Sleep Remedies & Aids
The Best Natural Sleep Remedies & Aids
Wellness March 23, 2023
Bioidentical Hormones
What Are Bioidentical Hormones Made With?
Medical Education March 23, 2023
chemical peels for skin disorders
Chemical Peels Can Do Wonders for Treating Skin Disorders
Skin March 23, 2023
health benefits of lip enhancements
Cleveland Clinic Cites Health Benefits of Lip Enhancements
lifestyle March 23, 2023

You Might also Like

Bioidentical Hormones
Medical Education

What Are Bioidentical Hormones Made With?

March 23, 2023
child dog bite lawyer
News

Cover Medical Costs of Child Dog Bites with Legal Specialists

March 23, 2023
virtual reality in optometry
Technology

What Are the Implications of Virtual Reality in Optometry?

March 22, 2023
US healthcare system
Global Healthcare

3 Ways to Improve the U.S. Healthcare System By 2030

March 14, 2023
//

We influence million of users and is the most authentic source of information on healthcare business and technology news.

Quick Links

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Subscribe

Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!

Follow US

© 2008-2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.

Removed from reading list

Undo
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Lost your password?