Data Background

The data presented above can be found on the Indiana Drug Overdose Dashboard and is from the Indiana hospitalizations and emergency department (ED) visit data are a subset of data compiled from the Uniform Billing 2004 form. The data are supplied by the Indiana Hospital Association under a contract with IDOH. Data are processed by the IDOH, Office of Data and Analytics, Data Analysis Team to provide a dataset that is analyzed by the Hospital Discharge Data Analyst in conjunction with the Division of Trauma and Injury Prevention.

The inpatient (hospitalizations) data contain Indiana residents discharged from a non-federal, acute care facility who were admitted to the hospital. The outpatient (ED visits) data - shown above - contain Indiana residents discharged from a non-federal, acute care facility who received emergency services without being admitted to the hospital. Each hospitalization and ED visit are assigned ICD-10-CM codes* for the principal reason and up to 59 secondary reasons for the hospital visit. Statistics in these dashboards are based on all 60 diagnoses, and the frequencies are based on the decedent’s county of residence, not the county where the event occurred. The dashboard’s morbidity data reflects definitions of drug poisoning (overdose) and contributing involved drugs based on guidance provided by the CDC (see Table 1). Rates based on counts less than 20 are considered unstable/unreliable (U) and should be interpreted with caution. Age-adjusted rate per 100,000 was calculated using the 2000 Standard Million Population, U.S. Bureau of Census. To avoid over-counting the number of drug-related events, counts from various drug categories should not be added to counts from other categories as multiple drugs can be listed on the billing codes for drug poisoning events, and events can be included in more than one of these tables for discharges from certain drugs and drug types. An individual can have more than one hospitalization or ED visit during the reporting time frame. Frequencies and rates are based on the number of discharges and not on the number of individuals seen.

This data can also be found on the Indiana Department of Health's Stats Explorer. However, morbidity rates reported in this dashboard vary from the data shared on the Stats Explorer website, as the dashboard portrays age-adjusted rates rather than crude population rates. Dashboard reviewers should be aware of this difference when comparing the website data elements.

* The ICD-10-CM is a morbidity classification published by the United States for classifying diagnoses and reason for visits in all health care settings. The ICD-10-CM is based on the ICD-10, the statistical classification of disease published by the World Health Organization (WHO).

** All data shown for 2024 is provisional at this time. 

Page last updated: October 3, 2024

Drug overdose can be prevented. See how CDC is working to prevent overdoses and substance use-related harms with guiding principles and strategic priorities.

Evidence-Based Strategies for Preventing Opioid Overdose

• Targeted Naloxone Distribution  
  • Naloxone – a non-addictive, life-saving drug that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose when administered in time. Targeted naloxone distribution programs seek to train and equip individuals who are most likely to encounter or witness an overdose—especially people who use drugs and first responders— with naloxone kits, which they can use in an emergency to save a life.
• Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) and Medication for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD)
  • MAT is a proven treatment for opioid use disorder. The backbone of this treatment is FDA approved medications. Methadone and buprenorphine activate opioid receptors in the brain, preventing painful opioid withdrawal symptoms without causing euphoria; naltrexone blocks the effects of opioids.
• Academic Detailing  
  • Academic detailing consists of structured visits to healthcare providers by trained professionals. They provide tailored training and technical assistance, helping healthcare providers use best practices.
• 911 Good Samaritan Laws  
  • The scope of 911 Good Samaritan Laws varies across U.S. states, but each is written with the goal of reducing barriers to calling 911 in the event of an overdose. This type of legislation may provide overdose victims and/or overdose bystanders with limited immunity from drug-related criminal charges and other criminal or judicial consequences that may otherwise result from calling first responders to the scene.
• Syringe Services Programs 
  • Syringe services programs (SSPs) are community-based prevention programs that can provide a range of services, including linkage to substance use disorder treatment; access to and disposal of sterile syringes and injection equipment; testing; treatment for infectious diseases; and linkage to medical, mental health, and social services.

 Source:

1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). Evidence-Based Strategies for Preventing Opioid Overdose: What’s Working in the United States. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 

The number of nonfatal opioid-involved overdoses treated by health care providers has risen in the United States; the median number of emergency department (ED) visits for these overdoses was significantly higher during 2020 than during 2019 (1).

Data from states reporting nonfatal overdose ED data to CDC reveal that the annual rate of ED visits for nonfatal drug overdoses has increased from 2018 to 2021. In 2018, the overall rate was 121.2 ED visits per 100,000 individuals, compared with 139.8 in 2021 (2).

Nonfatal overdose data is useful in identifying overdose anomalies or outbreaks or changes in trends. These data also inform drug overdose response and prevention activities (3).

Fast Facts

• From 2020 to 2021, there was a 13.2% increase in the number of ER visits related to overdoses. (3).
• The top five counties in Indiana with the highest counts of ER visits related to overdoses in 2021 are: Marion County with 4,637, Lake County with 1,089, Allen County with 797, St. Joseph County with 758 and Delaware County with 562 (3).
• The demographics most affected in these counties in 2020 were males, 24-35 year olds and the white population, with the exception of Allen County whose most affected age range was 15-24 year olds (3).
• Overdose visit counts increased by 10.5% in 2020 compared with the counts in 2018 and 2019, despite a 14% decline in all-cause ED visits. Additionally, opioid overdose rates increased by 28.5% from 0.25 per 100 ED visits in 2018 to 2019 to 0.32 per 100 ED visits in 2020 (5).
• A cross-sectional study of almost 190 million ED visits found that visit rates for mental health conditions, suicide attempts, all drug and opioid overdoses, intimate partner violence, and child abuse and neglect were higher in mid-March through October 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, compared with the same period in 2019 (6).

Sources:

1. Casillas SM, Pickens CM, Stokes EK, Walters J, Vivolo-Kantor A. Patient-Level and County-Level Trends in Nonfatal Opioid-Involved Overdose Emergency Medical Services Encounters — 491 Counties, United States, January 2018–March 2022. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2022;71:1073–1080.
2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Drug Overdose Surveillance and Epidemiology (DOSE) System: Nonfatal Overdose Emergency Department and Inpatient Hospitalization Discharge Data. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). CDC’s Drug Overdose Surveillance and Epidemiology (DOSE) System. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 
4. Indiana Department of Health. (2023). Drug Overdose Dashboard.
5. Soares WE 3rd, Melnick ER, Nath B, D'Onofrio G, Paek H, Skains RM, Walter LA, Casey MF, Napoli A, Hoppe JA, Jeffery MM. Emergency Department Visits for Nonfatal Opioid Overdose During the COVID-19 Pandemic Across Six US Health Care Systems. Ann Emerg Med. 2022 Feb;79(2):158-167. doi: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2021.03.013. Epub 2021 Mar 19. PMID: 34119326; PMCID: PMC8449788.
6. Holland KM, Jones C, Vivolo-Kantor AM, Idaikkadar N, Zwald M, Hoots B, Yard E, D'Inverno A, Swedo E, Chen MS, Petrosky E, Board A, Martinez P, Stone DM, Law R, Coletta MA, Adjemian J, Thomas C, Puddy RW, Peacock G, Dowling NF, Houry D. Trends in US Emergency Department Visits for Mental Health, Overdose, and Violence Outcomes Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic. JAMA Psychiatry. 2021 Apr 1;78(4):372-379. doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2020.4402. PMID: 33533876; PMCID: PMC7859873.

Indiana Drug Overdose Dashboard

Source last updated: September 5, 2024.