HHS Leverages Data for Impact and Action at the 2023 Health

On February 23 and 24, the US Department of Health and Human Services participated in Health Datapalooza 2023. First held in 2010, it has become a gathering place for individuals and organizations that create knowledge through build on data and pioneer innovations that inform health policy and practice. HHS has a strong history of participation in Health Datapalooza and continued that tradition this year.

The conference began with a keynote address by the Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, Robert Califf, MD, MACC; In Generation of evidence, consumption of evidence and truth, Dr. Califf discussed the issues blocking progress toward better health outcomes, including gaps between technological advances and evidence. He described generating high-quality evidence as essential, but proposed processes and methods that address evidence consumption. These processes reflect the new ways people consume evidence, from social media to artificial intelligence tools. Dr. Califf proposed that these new processes can help the government implement more effective health interventions, which will lead to better health outcomes for the public.

Micky Tripathi, PhD, MPPNational Coordinator of the Office of Health Information Technologies, gave a magisterial conference on Delivering on the promise of health information technology focusing on the efforts led by the ONC and the provisions of the Ley de Curas del Siglo XXI. Since Congress passed the Cures Act in 2016, the healthcare and healthcare IT industries have made progress in transitioning from paper-and-pencil health records to the use of electronic health information and electronic health record technology. Dr. Tripathi’s keynote address provided a look into the future of healthcare IT, including improving information sharing through information lockdown regulations, application programming interface (API) standardization, and the Trust Exchange Framework and Common Understanding (TEFCA).

The magisterial conferences continued with the Director of the Agency for Advanced Research Projects for Health (ARPA-H), Renée Wegrzyn, Ph.D. who introduced the newly formed agency. With focus areas of health science futures, scalable solutions, proactive health, and resilient systems, ARPA-H’s mission is to accelerate better health outcomes for all by supporting the development of high-impact solutions for society’s most challenging health problems.

In a plenary session, Innovation of the people, by the people, for the peopleKristen Honey, Ph.D., PMP, Chief Data Scientist and Executive Director of InnovationX in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH), and Stephen Konya, Senior Advisor to the Deputy National Coordinator, ONC, highlighted several initiatives cutting, including:

• CancerXannounced by the White House as part of the Cancer Moonshot.
• PandemicX, which incubated 15 teams of entrepreneurs focused on health equity.
• 2023 Health Equity Data Jama challenge to transform open data into tools and insights for impact, launched at Health Datapalooza.
• 2023 Federal Health Innovation Days, which HHS will reactivate to open the doors of government to startups and entrepreneurs in tech hubs across the country in 2023, to demystify government healthcare bureaucracy, processes, and priorities federal.

On Thursday, February 23, OASH led a panel on Transforming data into insights for action with HHS and the designers of the US Digital Corps exploring how HHS uses data modernization, human-centered design, and open innovation to drive knowledge and progress in Long COVID, Lyme and tick-borne disease and other infection-associated chronic diseases.

Panels continued through Friday, February 24 with Think outside the “bubble”: benefits of meeting innovators where they are, a panel that included speakers from federal health care agencies working with startups and other innovators from across the country to solve health care problems. The Office of the Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer (OCAIO) led a panel on Responsible and Trusted AI for Federal Health: From Principles to Practice exploring how AI impacts the public and how the government is working to promote the responsible use of AI. He Office of the Chief Data Officerpower panel HHS Data Strategy in Action convened data leaders from across the Department to discuss interagency data initiatives.

The Pitch Tent sessions were new this year at Health Datapalooza. Many HHS representatives gave these lightning presentations on topics including LymeX: Exponential Innovation in Lyme Disease Diagnosis, CancerX: Powering digital solutions with partners for cancer patient care, KidneyX: Improving lives with artificial kidney innovation, PandemicX: Data-Driven Solutions for National Public Health Challengesand Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) data initiatives.

To stay involved with HHS’s ongoing data-driven innovation, join the 2023 Health Equity Data Jam, a challenge to the public to transform open data into tools and insights for impact. Read more about DataJam at HealthData.gov.