Opioid Surveillance

OPH is responding to the state’s opioid crisis through the Louisiana Opioid Surveillance Program. The program assembles and analyzes both new and existing data on the opioid epidemic in Louisiana that will provide education, inform prevention of disease and injury, and support intervention and treatment, all aimed at reducing the impact of opioid use disorder in the state. In addition to providing data across LDH, bureau staff are also supporting the analytic needs of the Governor’s Drug Policy Board and the Advisory Council on Heroin and Opioid Prevention and Education.

The Bureau has developed an online tool to provide access to health professionals, researchers, and decision makers to understand, analyze, and apply data to statewide opioid abuse reduction efforts. Its goal is to evaluate the impact of programmatic and policy efforts and track the behavior of what is now considered a public health epidemic nationwide.

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TECHNICAL DOCUMENTATION / DEFINITIONS

Mortality Indicators

• Drug Poisoning Deaths
• Drug Involved Deaths
• Emergency Department Indicators
• Inpatient Visits Related to Drug Poisoning
• Inpatient Visits Related to Neonates/Infants and Maternal Drug Use
• Prescription Indicators

Available Fact Sheets and White Papers

• Surveillance Update for the HOPE Council, April 2025
• Surveillance Update for the HOPE Council, July 2024
• 2022 Drug-Related Emergency Department Syndromic Surveillance Annual Report
• 2021 Opioid Deaths Analysis
• 2021 Methadone Report
• 2021 Buprenorphine Report
• 2021 Prescription Report
• SUDORS Annual Report 2019
• Surveillance Update from the Louisiana Opioid Action Summit, September 2022
• Surveillance Update for the HOPE Council, March 2022
• Surveillance Update for the HOPE Council, June 2022
• "For Every Death" Fact Sheet

Louisiana's Opioid Response Plan

As a member of the LDH Opioid Steering Committee, the Opioid Surveillance Program was involved in the creation and publication of "Louisiana's Opioid Response Plan: A Roadmap to Decreasing the Effects of the Opioid Epidemic." This plan is built upon five pillars - surveillance, prevention, intervention, treatment, and recovery - allowing the Department to address not only health, but also the social and economic consequences associated with opioid misuse and addiction. The Bureau's Opioid Surveillance Program provided the data and graphics for the report, is leading the surveillance pillar of the plan, and will work with all agencies to supply and analyze data to evaluate the success of implementation. 

Click on the cover page to view the Department's Opioid Response Plan. Click here to download a two-page summary. 

For more information about the Department's opioid response activities and additional resources, visit the LDH Opioids Site.