Washington State (DOH) will apply for required Surveillance Strategies 1, 2, 3, and optional strategy 5 (Data Linkages) as well as Prevention Strategies 6, 7, 8, and 9. DOH will expand the capturing, analyzing, and disseminating of overdose surveillance data and will collaborate with medical examiners and coroners across Washington to expand data collection for the SUDORS program that currently represents more than 75% of the state’s population. These efforts will support the data to action framework by providing timely and comprehensive data that statewide partners may use to inform prevention interventions.
DOH will partner with state agencies, healthcare consultants, community-based organizations, Local Health Jurisdictions, and Tribal Health organizations to implement prevention activities. Interventions will include continuing to fund academic detailing and communities of practice around overdose prevention for providers, supporting navigator-led emergency department linkages to care, engaging state-level public safety/ health partnerships to enhance naloxone leave-behind programs and re-entry supports for people leaving custody, and increasing navigator-led access and linkage to Syringe Service Programs and other Harm Reduction services across the state.
DOH will use overdose data split by overdose burden and demographics to identify and prioritize the needs of people at highest risk of overdose. Intended outcomes include the increase of collection and dissemination of timely and actionable surveillance data; to increase clinician ability to provide equitable overdose prevention care; to increase collaboration and coordination among state and local-level partners; and to increase the use of navigators to link people to services, including increased distribution of naloxone.