Nevada Department of Health and Human Services Builds Naloxone Virtual Dispensary with Salesforce to Combat the Opioid Crisis

A cloud-based application powered by Salesforce captures data necessary to address a growing and complex issue

Salesforce, the global leader in CRM, announced that the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) launched its Naloxone Virtual Dispensary, an inventory management application built on the Salesforce Platform that tracks the state’s supply of naloxone, the opioid overdose antidote, at both the funding and distribution level.

The opioid crisis is one of the most pervasive public health challenges that our country has ever faced. Over the last decade, 4,067 Nevadans have died from opioid overdose, with 357 in 2019 alone. And while overdose deaths from prescription opioid medications are declining, deaths from heroin and fentanyl are climbing rapidly.

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The current COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated this widespread issue. The combination of many external factors—including limited access to non-urgent medical care, record unemployment, and other economic-led circumstances—have increased the risk for opioid overdoses throughout the U.S. Today, states are struggling to ensure naloxone is readily available in communities that need it.

In order to rapidly distribute naloxone and responsibly manage and report on federally appropriated funds and taxpayer dollars used to purchase it, Nevada DHHS deployed the Naloxone Virtual Dispensary. The app provides visibility and data on naloxone usage and patterns across Nevada, freeing up time for DHHS staff to focus on other business-critical activities, such as training.

The Naloxone Virtual Dispensary allows DHHS to redistribute naloxone to other community-based organizations based on supply and demand, creating a flexible statewide inventory management system. The app also enables DHHS to track and analyze data regarding overdose reversals through voluntary information provided by individuals seeking doses of naloxone. This anonymous, aggregated data provides critical context to program administrators looking to understand what is occurring across communities and how naloxone is being used.

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“Since deploying our Naloxone Virtual Dispensary app, we’ve dispensed 11,861 naloxone kits to community-based organizations, provided an additional 4,942 naloxone kits to first responder agencies, and have had 856 reports of overdose reversals,” said Dr. Stephanie Woodard, Psy.D., DHHS Senior Advisor on Behavioral Health, State of Nevada. “The creative use of technology to support the distribution and monitoring of naloxone has enabled us to be more responsive to the rapidly evolving crisis happening in our communities and ultimately save more lives.”

“At Salesforce, we believe that doing well and doing good go hand in hand. We are humbled and honored that our Platform is playing such a pivotal role in helping the State of Nevada navigate this unprecedented health care crisis,” said Rob Stein, Senior Vice President, North America Public Sector, Salesforce. “DHHS is setting an example for how other agencies can take real, meaningful steps toward improving the health and well-being of their communities.”

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