Data Sources and Data-Linking Strategies to Support ...

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation Office of Health Policy

Data Sources and Data-Linking Strategies to Support Research to

Address the Opioid Crisis

FINAL REPORT

September 2018

The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) is the principal advisor to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on policy development issues, and is responsible for major activities in the areas of legislative and budget development, strategic planning, policy research and evaluation, and economic analysis. The Office of Health Policy (HP), within ASPE, provides a cross-cutting policy perspective that bridges Departmental programs, public and private sector activities, and the research community, in order to develop, analyze, coordinate and provide leadership on health policy issues for the Secretary. This report was prepared under contract # HHSP23320095649WC. The task order number for the current Time & Materials umbrella contract is: HHSP23337038T between HHS's ASPE/HP and the RAND Corporation.

The opinions and views expressed in this report are those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Health and Human Services, the contractor or any other funding organization.

September 2018

Data Sources and Data-Linking Strategies to Support Research to Address the Opioid Crisis

Final Report

Submitted to Office of Health Policy Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Hubert H. Humphrey Building 200 Independence Avenue SW Washington, DC 20201

Submitted by Rosanna Smart, Courtney Ann Kase, Amanda Meyer, and Bradley D. Stein

RAND Corporation 1776 Main Street P.O. Box 2138

Santa Monica, CA 90407-2138

About This Report

This report presents findings from a scoping study to assess the types of data sources and data-linkage efforts that are currently being used or could potentially be leveraged to support research and evaluations relevant to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Strategic Priorities to combat the opioids crisis. Based on an environmental scan of the literature and interviews with opioid policy and research efforts, the purpose of the project is to provide an overview of the types of secondary data sources and data linkages commonly used in opioidrelated research to highlight some of the key gaps or challenges for existing data-collection and analysis efforts and to outline potential steps that could be taken to overcome these challenges. The initial scoping study was conducted in summer 2017, with an update to the scan of the literature conducted in February 2018.

We would like to acknowledge the participation and assistance of all researchers and federal program officials who participated in the stakeholder interviews. This effort would not have been possible without their generosity in providing their time and expertise on challenges and opportunities for the use of secondary data in research relevant to the opioids crisis. We also thank Hilary Peterson and Mary Vaiana for their keen attention to detail and for providing excellent assistance in the creation of this report. Finally, we would like to acknowledge the contributions of Susan Lumsden and Scott R. Smith from the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, as well as the valuable insights we received from the peer reviewers of the report, Erin Taylor of RAND and Brendan Saloner of Johns Hopkins University.

The research reported here was undertaken within RAND Health, a division of the RAND Corporation, and funded by the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, Department of Health and Human Services. A profile of RAND Health, abstracts of its publications, and ordering information can be found at health. Questions and comments about this report should be sent to the project leader, Bradley Stein (stein@).

About the Authors

Bradley Stein is a senior physician policy researcher at the RAND Corporation and an adjunct associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. A practicing psychiatrist and health services and policy researcher, his research is focused on better understanding and improving care for individuals with mental health and substance use disorders in community settings.

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Rosanna Smart is an associate economist at the RAND Corporation whose research centers on studying the public health and policy implications of licit and illicit substance use, drug markets and drug policy, and issues related to the criminal justice system. Courtney A. Kase is a policy analyst at the RAND Corporation whose prior research includes evaluations of service integration within community-based behavioral health centers, approaches to reducing health disparities, and approaches for technology use and collaboration in rural educational settings. Amanda Meyer is a research assistant at the RAND Corporation with research interests in tobacco control and regulation, mental health policy and interventions, trauma, and school health.

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