Putting Data and Innovation to Work to Improve Health (posted 6/4)

On Wednesday, June 2nd HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Institute of Medicine President launched a national initiative to share a wealth of new community health data that will drive innovation and lead to the creation of new applications and tools to improve the health of Americans.  At the Community Health Data Forum on June 2 federal and community leaders were joined by developers and technology pioneers who demonstrated 16 innovative applications that make use of publicly available health data. The Community Health Data Initiative (CHDI) will make federally generated health data available to communities in accessible and easy-to-use innovative ways.  Sebelius stated, “Our national health data constitute a precious resource that we are paying billions to assemble, but then too often wasting,” Secretary Sebelius said. “When information sits on the shelves of government offices, it is underperforming. We need to bring these data alive. If made easily accessible by the public, our data can help raise awareness of health status and trigger efforts to improve it. The data can help our communities determine where action is most needed and what approaches might be most helpful. As a nation, we can and should harness the exploding creativity in our information technology and media sectors to help us get the most public benefit out of our data investments.”

To help citizens, clinicians and local leaders use data to improve health and value of health care, the Community Health Data Initiative (CHDI) is turning to Web application developers, mobile phone applications, social media, and other cutting-edge information technologies to “put our public health data to work.” Demonstrations at the Community Health Data Forum included web tools that allow citizens to easily understand health performance in one county versus another, dashboards that allow civic leaders to get a detailed understanding of their community’s health status and how they might improve it, an online game that enables players to learn local health status facts, enhanced web search that integrates hospital performance data into hospital search results, and mobile phone-based tools that put exciting new health information at consumers’ fingertips. To read the full press release click here.

Watch the Community Health Data Forum event:

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