The pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson, along with several other smaller manufacturers of opioids, are to pay $26 billion to assist in opioid relief across the country due to a recent settlement. The State of North Carolina is among the first to sign up to receive funds, and stands to see $750 million paid over the course of the next 18 years. The settlement seeks to provide funding for opioid relief programs, including rehabilitation, housing, and employment-related services. In order to receive funding, local governments are required to follow specific guidelines laid out in a memorandum of agreement finalized in April. The 38-page document states the specifics of how to go about obtaining settlement money, how it can be used, and what options are available for participating local governments.  

The memorandum goes into detail about the two options available for allocation of settlement funds, listed as Option A and Option B on page 8 of the text. Both options require that counties hold annual meetings, open to the public, with all municipalities present, in order to discuss the uses of settlement funds (p. 7, E.4). These meetings are also designed to promote transparency and collaboration between local governments both within and beyond the county. Option B requires counties to participate in additional meetings which will take place every four years. This option gives participating governments more options for settlement use. 

The document also describes the process of accountability, namely in the form of yearly financial audits. The specifics of the content of the audits can be found on page 33, listed in exhibit E. Also listed is the process of receiving funds, which requires opioid settlement money to be listed in the yearly budget report, or that the county passes a separate resolution with the amount of settlement money included. The budget or resolution must include the intended use of settlement funds broken down into separate amounts for each proposed strategy (p. 9). 

North Carolina local governments could use Scorecard to help with organization, strategy, and communication throughout every step of the Opioid Settlement process. Scorecard’s ability to present and organize information in accessible formats can certainly ease the yearly meetings by providing clear visuals for the impact of proposed strategies. These meetings are meant to facilitate communication between multiple counties as well as the general public, and showing clear data on a proposed use of funding could ease the stress of decision making. For example, if a municipality is advocating for evidence-based addiction treatment (option 2 of Exhibit A, pg. 15), data demonstrating the positive impact of this strategy can easily be condensed into a chart or graph. This works especially well in situations where someone is advocating for a renewal of said strategy used in a prior year of the program. As years of a strategy are compiled over time, more information can be gathered and presented for the public to evaluate during yearly meetings.

Scorecard offers long-term data management which can keep funding organized and accessible for reporting and accountability purposes. Additionally, out software offers the ability to quickly and easily share information between users, allowing for cross-government communication as well as accessibility for nonprofit organizations involved in opioid-related efforts.

Clear Impact can make data sharing easier and more accessible as North Carolina heads into new territory for solving the opioid crisis. If you or your local government are involved in anything related to the recent memorandum of agreement, consider upgrading your data capabilities to ease the burden and ensure efficient communication going forward. Clear Impact offers a free demo of Scorecard for anyone interested.