Innovation Sparks with the HHS Community Health Data Initiative

Innovation Sparks with the HHS Community Health Data Initiative

Last week the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services launched the Community Health Data Initiative, an innovative new project to make community health data more readily available and accessible to the general public. The idea is an “aha!” moment for HHS. At the launch, Secretary Sebelius said, “When information sits on the shelves of government offices, it is underperforming. We need to bring these data alive.”

So how does HHS plan to do it?

Though the initiative was just launched last week, HHS actually made the health data available on March 11, 2010. Since then, independent software developers have been feverishly creating a bevy of apps, games, and other platforms designed to make community health care data accessible and applicable to our everyday lives.

The goal seems to be two-fold. First, put the data to work. Yes, HHS uses its own data, but as the Secretary said, it “sits on the shelves of government offices, it is underperforming.”

A number of software developers have already created interesting new uses for the data. Bing (Google’s new-ish competition) created Bing HealthMaps, which lets you see how a particular community performs on a variety of health indicators like obesity or stroke rates. Bing also plans to integrate health data into Oodle (online classifieds) search results.

Not to be surpassed, Google is getting in on this too. They have developed Google Fusion Tables, which are basically online databases that let anyone easily manipulate and analyze the available data. Google is also developing Hospital Finder, an interactive map of the nation’s hospitals displaying hospital quality information.

MeYou Health, a much smaller company, decided to go a different route, creating Community Clash, an interactive online game that lets you compare various health indicators for two U.S. cities. Whichever city has the better overall health score wins.

The second goal of the initiative, or I should say the ultimate goal, is to create healthier communities. By making health data more accessible and applicable to our everyday lives, HHS hopes that we will start using the information to inform our health and wellness decisions. And if health care consumers begin to rely on the data to inform their health care and lifestyle decisions, there will be a greater incentive for health care providers to improve quality and health outcomes.

Secretary Sebelius said that by the end of 2010, HHS will unveil a new Health Indicators Warehouse to provide us all with current and new HHS data on national, state, regional, and county health performance. The Warehouse will include data on indicators like rates of smoking, diabetes, obesity, access to healthy food, and utilization of health care services. The best part? It’ll be easy to use! Health data junkies and the general public alike will be able to explore the numbers on the Warehouse website, download any of it for free, and integrate it easily into their own sites and apps.

To learn more about the Community Health Data Initiative and how to access the information visit www.hhs.gov/open.

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Great additional examples including an overview video on youtube highlighted on the Life as a CIO blog here and check this out ... HHS CTO Todd Park loves the Community Health Data Initiative, but he thinks it needs a better name! (See this video from the Gov 2.0 Expo - http://is.gd/czTNy) Help him figure one out by voting here.

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6/7/2010 5:00:53 PM