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HHS CTO Bryan Sivak on Open Data

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9k_oxi92vY&w=640&h=385[/youtube]

Last week I was in DC and I caught up with Bryan Sivak, a geek’s geek who has migrated from Silicon Valley (via London) to government service first in Maryland and now at HHS. He has a big job there to keep pounding out the open health data drumbeat Todd Park started. And he’ll have at least two big opportunities to do it this spring, first at Health 2.0’s developer conference Health:Refactored in Silicon Valley in May and then at the now 4th annual Health DataPalooza in DC in June.

A Call for Apps at the HDI Forum IV: Health Datapalooza

We are excited to announce that the Health Data Initiative (HDI) Forum IV: Health Datapalooza will be held on June 3 and 4, 2013 at the OMNI Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC. Last year, HDI had over 1,400 of the world’s leaders in health care featuring speakers and attendees in data science, software development, management, policy and technology.

The event will highlight the latest trends in efforts to liberate health data and effectively use it, through keynote presentations, code-a-thons, interactive panels and an “Apps Expo.” The “Apps Expo” is an exciting opportunity to collaborate with innovative developers and designers who are changing the health care landscape.

HDI IV is looking for great apps that are dedicated to meaningful use of health care data. The apps’ developers and data experts will interact with attendees who are looking for new tools to grow their business. If you’re interested in featuring your product in the “Apps Expo” or if you would like to present or exhibit at Healthdatapalooza please submit your idea here. Apps will be judged on the following criteria:

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App-Happy Health Care Full of Optimism, Money


There is a corner of the health care industry where rancor is rare, the chance to banish illness beckons just a few mouse clicks away and talk revolves around venture deals, not voluminous budget deficits.

Welcome to the realm of Internet-enabled health apps. Politicians and profit-seeking entrepreneurs alike enthuse about the benefits of “liberating data” – the catch-phrase of U.S. Chief Technology Officer Todd Park – to enable it to move from government databases to consumer-friendly uses. The potential for better information to promote better care is clear. The question that remains unanswered, however, is what role these consumer applications can play in prompting fundamental health system change.

Michael W. Painter, a physician, attorney and senior program officer at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is optimistic. “We think that by harnessing this data and getting it into the hands of developers, entrepreneurs, established businesses, consumers and academia, we will unleash tremendous creativity,” Painter said. “The result will be improved and more cost efficient care, more engaged patients and discoveries that can help drive the next generation of care.”

The foundation is backing up that belief with an open checkbook. RWJF recently awarded $100,000 to Symcat, a multi-functional symptom checker for web and mobile platforms. Developed by two Johns Hopkins University medical students, the app determines a possible diagnosis far more precisely than is possible by just typing in symptoms as a list of words to be searched by “Dr. Google.” Symcat also links to quality information on different providers and can even direct users to nearby emergency care and provide an estimate of the cost.

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Health Datapalooza 2012: Throw Your Hat Into the Ring!

It’s a phenomenal time to be an innovator at the intersection of data and health care improvement.  I’m incredibly excited by the rising tide of innovations we’re seeing – new products, services and features being invented by entrepreneurs across the country, fueled by open health data.

And coming soon is the latest opportunity to showcase and learn about many of those innovations: the 2012 Health Data Initiative Forum– aka the Health Datapalooza — being held in DC at the Washington Convention Center on June 5-6, 2012.

For all of you who have been creating value from health and health care data – this is your opportunity to showcase your brilliance for the nation to see!  Led by the amazingly talented folks at Health 2.0, the Health Data Consortium is sponsoring a national competition for the best new apps and services created using health and health care-related data.  Entry applications for the competition are due March 30th.

Innovators will then go through an “American Idol”-style process in which panels of consumers, health care professionals, and community leaders will judge innovations submitted. The innovations that best demonstrate benefit and value for health and care improvement will be featured and demoed at the June Datapalooza.

So if you’ve built or are building something terrific with the aid of health data, throw your hat into the ring! Submit your entry form by March 30th, and may the best innovations win!

Todd Park is the CTO of HHS and has just been appointed CTO of the Federal Government.

(Full disclosure: as is obvious from the article Health 2.0 which is a sister company to THCB is involved as a sub-contractor helping with Health Datapalooza 2012)

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