The first afternoon session at Transparency Camp - We are talking about Health Data
Discussion topics:
- How are Health Information Exchanges working?
You can refer to my notes from the Health 3.0 conference - Wisconsin HIE is being used to drive down Emergency Room (ER) use and direct people to more cost effective resources. http://ekive.blogspot.com/2011/01/health3-how-hie-drives-down-er-use-and.html
There is a community on www.data.gov to discuss what data should be available. These are public forums. The interest expressed in these forums can influence priorities for data development efforts.
How can the community help HHS - The best way is to contribute to the conversations in the community section of the site. Show that there are active engaged citizens.
Divisions inside HHS run almost autonomously. This provides challenges.
Department of Agriculture publishes a Food Atlas: http://maps.ers.usda.gov/FoodAtlas/
This gives context and enables issues to be localized and encourages action.
Check out http://www.countyhealthrankings.org. sponsored by Robert Woods Johnson Foundation. Allows people to drill down in to comparative health rankings.
Putting data in to context - e.g. Rankings enables people to take action.
