Experts use tools from artificial intelligence to rapidly identify substances that cause overdose deaths

An automated process based on computer algorithms that can read text from medical examiners' death certificates can substantially speed up data collection of overdose deaths – which in turn can ensure a more rapid public health response time than the system currently used, new UCLA research finds. The analysis, to be published Aug. 8 in the peer-reviewed JAMA Network Open, used tools from artificial intelligence to rapidly identify substances that caused overdose deaths. The overdose crisis in America is the number one cause of death in young adults, but we don't know the actual number of overdose deaths until months after the fact. We also don't know the number of overdoses in our communities, as rapidly released data is only available at the state level, at best. We need systems that get this data out fast and at a local level so public health can respond.