Section 138 Overdose Data Reporting
(a) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the secretary of health and human services, in collaboration with the commissioner of public health, shall conduct or provide for an examination of the prescribing and treatment history, including court-ordered treatment or treatment within the criminal legal system, of persons in the commonwealth who suffered fatal overdoses in calendar years 2019 to 2021, inclusive, and annually thereafter, and shall report in an aggregate and de-identified form on trends discovered through the examination. The secretary of health and human services may contract with a nonprofit or educational entity to conduct data analytics on the data set generated in the examination; provided, however, that the executive office shall implement appropriate privacy safeguards consistent with state and federal law.
(b) To facilitate the examination pursuant to subsection (a), the department of public health shall request, and the relevant offices and agencies shall provide, information necessary to complete the examination from the division of medical assistance, the executive office of public safety and security, the center for health information and analysis, the office of patient protection, the department of revenue and the chief justice of the trial court, which may include, but shall not be limited to, data from the: (i) prescription drug monitoring program established in section 24A of chapter 94C of the General Laws; (ii) all-payer claims database established in section 12 of chapter 12C of the General Laws; (iii) criminal offender record information database established in section 172 of chapter 6 of the General Laws; and (iv) court activity record information system established in section 9 of chapter 258E of the General Laws. To the extent feasible, the department of public health shall request data from the Massachusetts Sheriffs Association, Inc. relating to treatment within houses of correction.
(c) Not later than July 1, 2023, and annually thereafter, the secretary of health and human services shall publish a report on the findings of the examination including, but not limited to: (i) the overall prescription history of the individuals, including both agonist and antagonist medications for opioid use disorder; (ii) the mental and behavioral health and substance use treatment history of the individuals, including an outcome comparison of voluntary versus involuntary treatment, controlling for other factors; (iii) structural factors that contribute to heightened risk of overdose including, but not limited to, employment status, housing status, criminal legal involvement, income, medical comorbidities including, but not limited to, bacterial or viral infections and substance use sequalae and other demographic markers including, but not limited to, race, ethnicity, age, gender identity, sexual orientation and immigration status; (iv) trends in the substances observed in overdose events; (v) whether the individuals had attempted to enter but were denied access to mental or behavioral health or substance use treatment; (vi) whether the individuals had received past treatment for a substance overdose; and (vii) whether any individuals had been previously detained, committed or incarcerated and, if so, whether they had received treatment and treatment type during the detention, commitment or incarceration.
The reports shall be filed with the clerks of the house of representatives and senate, the house and senate committees on ways and means, the joint committee on mental health, substance use and recovery, the joint committee on public health and the joint committee on health care financing.