Over 20 years ago, I trained in emergency departments filled with narcotic overdose survivors. My fellow physicians and I didn’t recognize the connection between these people brought back to life outside the hospital and the opioids we were prescribing for patients in the hospital. The medical community believed that slashing patients’ self-described pain from 10 to zero and prescribing opioids as needed constituted safe and compassionate care.

But hundreds of thousands of prescription opioid-related deaths spurred a renewed focus on data. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention introduced International Classification of Disease diagnosis codes acknowledging opioid disorders that facilitate surveillance and research. Clinicians now use evidence-based opioid prescribing guidelines.