2024 OFR National Forum: Overdose Fatality Review Data System: Findings and Resources for Implementation

The Overdose Fatality Review (OFR) Data System has emerged as a powerful tool, offering a comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach to understanding overdose fatalities and informing evidence-based strategies for prevention. The OFR Data System collects and summarizes data surrounding overdose fatalities, encompassing not only individual-level data but also contextual factors and contributing circumstances. Data sources include medical examiner reports, law enforcement investigations, toxicology results, social and health care service use, and demographic information. The multidisciplinary collaboration ensures a well-rounded and holistic assessment of each overdose case, elucidating the root causes and risk factors involved. Armed with this knowledge, public health and public safety experts, policymakers, and health care providers can tailor prevention strategies to address specific vulnerabilities within communities. These identified recommendations are also entered and tracked in the OFR Data System. This session will provide an overview of the OFR Data System, how to access it and resources available for analysis, and why collecting and summarizing and reporting on data, findings, and recommendations from individual case reviews, next-of-kin interviews, and community context are important activities of OFRs.