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Susannah Fox

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Making Health Data Sing (Even If It’s A Familiar Song)

June 2, 2010 By Susannah Fox 35 Comments

Todd Park is determined to make health data hot. He is leading the U.S. Department of Health & Human Service’s effort to make more of their data sets publicly available, from nursing home quality ratings to the food environmental atlas (view the full list of available downloads). As he says, HHS doesn’t want to choreograph the outcome of all this data liberation – they just want to make health data as useful and available as weather data.

I admit to being a little skeptical. Scratch the surface of the available data sets and you’ll find the same health disparities discussed everywhere in public health: how much money you have is a big determinant for where you live and where you live is a big determinant of your health.

However, maybe there’s something to that weather analogy. As someone said, “Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.” The innovators being showcased today at the Community Health Data Initiative event are examples of people who want to talk about health disparities AND do something about it.

Pew Internet research finds that at least some Americans have an appetite for government data. Do they have an appetite for doing something about it?

At a sneak preview of today’s event, I saw five of the apps based on data made available by HHS. Tune in to hhs.gov/open at 9am Eastern to see these and other examples:

1) The Network of Care for Healthy Communities. A community dashboard with health indicators for individuals, families, and policymakers to use for “evidence-based decision-making.” Nothing too sexy here, but I was impressed by their efforts to tie county health data to state, regional, and national resources AND pending state and national legislation. The links are checked and updated every three days (oof, that is a lot of work).

Weather report: if you see a storm coming toward your community, these people can tell you where to buy an umbrella — or how to build a tornado shelter.

2) Microsoft Bing. Alain Rappaport and his team noticed that many people are searching for specific hospitals (38% of internet users according to Pew Internet research) yet the hospital comparison data was stuck in what they consider the “deep web.” So Bing now surfaces it instantly. This is just one example of how Bing is attempting to mash up health data, search, and data visualization.

Weather report: when people receive a diagnosis or are facing a health decision, search is often the first port in the storm. Bing wants to throw people a line.

3) GE Healthymagination. Lovely infographics of horrible realities, but apparently people like the cost of getting sick calculator.

Weather report: if data visualization alone can drive behavior change, GE has the art budget to be the Weather Channel of health data.

4) CommunityClash. Now we’re talking: an online card game to engage people in community health indicators. I can’t wait to pit cities against each other in imaginary health smackdowns (yep, I’m a health geek, but so are you if you are reading this). And you can share the results on Twitter and Facebook.

Weather report:  the winner of the Al Roker award for making serious data fun.

5) Google Health. Mashing up hospital data to make it manipulable, shareable, and mappable to answer the question: Where is the best place to have chest pain in the U.S.? You can embed your new custom, interactive map in a blog. My lightbulb moment was when I found out that you can add any other CSV file — such as an online community’s quirky, detailed hospital reviews (where’s the best take-out nearby? how’s the parking? where’s the nearest florist?)

Weather report: this is for the Weather Channel fanatics — people who have the time to track hurricanes and tell the rest of us what we need to know, when we need to know it.

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Filed Under: trends & principles Tagged With: Health Datapalooza

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Elaine Schattner, M.D. says

    June 2, 2010 at 9:52 am

    I like the idea, but have we settled on a genre? Will we text our votes to pick finalists?

    Reply
    • Susannah Fox says

      June 3, 2010 at 10:14 am

      This wasn’t a contest, but rather a showcase. The organizers chose a handful of apps for the plenary and many more were in the expo.

      You can vote here if you have a favorite!

      Reply
  2. Susannah Fox says

    June 3, 2010 at 10:47 am

    Some notes from the event:

    Check out the tweets: #healthapps
    http://wthashtag.com/Healthapps
    (hat tip to Nikki D./@eagledawg for the updated, much better link)

    Watch the plenary speeches & demos (with closed captioning):

    View some photos:
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/divergence/sets/72157624068389315/

    In my opinion, the Palantir AnalyzeThe.US presentation was the strongest data visualization tool shown. Alex Fishman, the engineer presenting their tools (they employ no salespeople), seemed surprised by the audible gasps and murmurs of admiration from the wonky, trapped-in-Excel crowd. (Watch Alex’s preso starting at about minute 31 of the YouTube vid.)

    Roni Zeiger of Google spoke eloquently about how, as we talk about data in the aggregate, we must remember how it should be made meaningful for individuals. He turned to show the Regina Holliday painting on his jacket, telling about how she had limited access to her dying husband’s health record, eventually paying 73 cents per page to get a print copy of it.

    Here’s a photo of the jacket:
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/divergence/4665354222/in/set-72157624068389315/

    One lesson of the day was that most of the data featured has always been available – hidden in plain sight.

    Another lesson is that much of the data could be described “data exhaust” – thrown out by other services as a often-forgotten byproduct.

    In other words, one man’s trash is another’s treasure. Data may have a hidden usefulness which the keepers/creators may not see.

    The consumer-focused breakout session was incredibly fun. Imagine Todd Park as professor of health innovation and your classmates are Alexandra Carmichael, David Hale, Roni Zeiger, Andrew Wilson, Alain Rappaport, Tim O’Reilly, Kristi Miller Durazo, and a mix of med students, public health experts, and techies flown in from Boston and Silicon Valley.

    In 20 minutes, 4 small groups came up with 3 ideas each – mashups of public data sets + existing non-health apps to improve health. My group focused on nutrition (“I Want A Salad” – USDA food desert map + Yelp), end of life (create a stark data visualization showing gap between what people say they want and what happens to most of us + links to resources like hospice, home health aides + medical education), and contagion theory (“happiness + obesity run in circles” – obesity data, mental health data maps + Facebook/Twitter = how happy/sad/thin/fat are your friends?)

    I liked what one person said during our discussion: It is less a case of data liberation, more a case of a citizen hacking through a jungle and coming upon an open trove of free data. Feds *do* want citizens to have this data, he said. Todd added that they just needed “air cover” which is what his office is doing. HHS is now providing a map and clearing paths, making sure the data is no longer hidden in plain sight.

    Reply
  3. alexandra albin says

    June 3, 2010 at 11:18 am

    Thanks Susannah Fox for always a great, insightful, fun read on not so sexy stuff. I like the GE comment.

    Reply
    • Susannah Fox says

      June 4, 2010 at 9:26 am

      Thanks so much! I enjoy hearing about events I can’t attend, so I always try to take notes on behalf of the health geek tribe whenever I can.

      And yes, check out GE’s site – cool stuff.

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. SusannahFox says:
    June 2, 2010 at 9:38 am

    If you want a quick summary of the #healthapps event, here's mine: http://is.gd/czwrz

    Reply
  2. -Alicia- says:
    June 2, 2010 at 9:39 am

    Al Roker award! 😉 RT @jourpm: Making Health Data Sing (Even If It's A Familiar Song) http://is.gd/czwpP #tech #healthcare

    Reply
  3. Justin N. Williams says:
    June 2, 2010 at 9:40 am

    RT @SusannahFox: If you want a quick summary of the #healthapps event, here's mine: http://is.gd/czwrz

    Reply
  4. Trapper Markelz says:
    June 2, 2010 at 9:42 am

    RT @SusannahFox: If you want a quick summary of the #healthapps event, here's mine: http://is.gd/czwrz

    Reply
  5. Susan Promislo says:
    June 2, 2010 at 9:44 am

    read @SusannahFox summary of #healthapps event: http://is.gd/czwrz I like online card game to engage people in community health indicators

    Reply
  6. ehealthgr says:
    June 2, 2010 at 9:46 am

    RT @SusannahFox: If you want a quick summary of the #healthapps event, here's mine: http://is.gd/czwrz

    Reply
  7. Carmen Gonzalez says:
    June 2, 2010 at 10:40 am

    RT @SusannahFox If you want a quick summary of the #healthapps event, here's mine: http://is.gd/czwrz via @pfanderson Love the GE cost graph

    Reply
  8. SusannahFox says:
    June 2, 2010 at 12:14 pm

    New post: Making health data sing, even if it's a familiar song: http://is.gd/czwrz #healthapps #opendata #gov20

    Reply
  9. Ellen Miller says:
    June 2, 2010 at 12:26 pm

    RT @SusannahFox: New post: Making health data sing, even if it's a familiar song: http://is.gd/czwrz #healthapps #opendata #gov20

    Reply
  10. Andrew J. Cohen says:
    June 2, 2010 at 12:59 pm

    RT @SusannahFox: If you want a quick summary of the #healthapps event, here's mine: http://is.gd/czwrz

    Reply
  11. Alexandra Carmichael says:
    June 2, 2010 at 1:00 pm

    RT @SusannahFox New post: Making health data sing, even if it's a familiar song: http://is.gd/czwrz #healthapps #opendata #gov20

    Reply
  12. Alex Howard says:
    June 2, 2010 at 1:06 pm

    "Making health data sing, even if it's a familiar song"-@SusannahFox http://is.gd/czwrz #healthapps #opendata #gov20 #opengov

    Reply
  13. Brian Ahier says:
    June 2, 2010 at 1:29 pm

    Making health data sing, even if it's a familiar song: http://is.gd/czwrz #healthapps #opendata #gov20 (via @SusannahFox)

    Reply
  14. Eric RumseyGoogle Sa says:
    June 2, 2010 at 1:55 pm

    RT janicemccallum Making Health Data Sing (@SusannahFox) http://is.gd/czwrz /Gr8 prevu of HHS 9am webcast http://bit.ly/a0bWts

    Reply
  15. P. F. Anderson says:
    June 2, 2010 at 2:40 pm

    RT @SusannahFox: If you want a quick summary of the #healthapps event, here's mine: http://is.gd/czwrz

    Reply
  16. Andrew Wilson says:
    June 2, 2010 at 2:44 pm

    RT @SusannahFox: If you want a quick summary of the #healthapps event, here's mine: http://is.gd/czwrz

    Reply
  17. Bryan Vartabedian says:
    June 2, 2010 at 3:01 pm

    Interesting RT @SusannahFox: If you want a quick summary of the #healthapps event, here's mine: http://is.gd/czwrz

    Reply
  18. Healthy Competition: ‘Community Clash’ Educates As It Entertains says:
    June 2, 2010 at 7:38 pm

    […] health smackdowns (yep, I’m a health geek, but so are you if you are reading this),” wrote Suzanne Fox, associate director of the Pew Internet & American Life Project, who reports on e-patients and […]

    Reply
  19. pinboard June 3, 2010 — arghh.net says:
    June 3, 2010 at 1:25 pm

    […] Making Health Data Sing (Even If It’s A Familiar Song) | e-Patients.net RT @ Imagine Todd Park as professor and @accarmichael @timoreilly + @lostonroute66 as classmates: #healthapps […]

    Reply
  20. Community Clash Launches in D.C., Takes Stage with Google, Microsoft & GE says:
    June 3, 2010 at 1:49 pm

    […] to Susannah Fox’s review of the day’s presentations, we earned recognition “for making serious data fun.” We […]

    Reply
  21. Phil Baumann says:
    June 3, 2010 at 9:47 pm

    Making Health Data Sing (Even If It’s A Familiar Song) by @SusannahFox – http://bit.ly/awuf9d #hcsm

    Reply
  22. Read G Holman says:
    June 3, 2010 at 9:51 pm

    RT @philbaumann: Making Health Data Sing (Even If It’s A Familiar Song) by @SusannahFox – http://bit.ly/awuf9d #hcsm #gov20

    Reply
  23. Making Health Data Hot says:
    June 30, 2010 at 6:34 pm

    […] use of the information by health care organizations, public agencies, and individuals.  Check out these attempts to “make health data sing,” as Susanna Fox from the Society for Participatory Medicine […]

    Reply
  24. SusannahFox says:
    July 9, 2010 at 8:15 pm

    Thinking about: Health 2.0 Developer Challenge: http://health2challenge.org/ (my take: http://is.gd/czwrz) #health2dev

    Reply
  25. ehealthgr says:
    July 9, 2010 at 8:17 pm

    RT @SusannahFox: Thinking about: Health 2.0 Developer Challenge: http://health2challenge.org/ (my take: http://is.gd/czwrz) #health2dev

    Reply
  26. Making Health Data Sing (Even If It’s A Familiar Song) says:
    September 7, 2010 at 11:37 am

    […] Read more about Susannah Fox here and more of her articles can be found here. […]

    Reply
  27. Susannah Fox on Health 2.0 DC says:
    September 14, 2010 at 12:29 pm

    […] Susannah Fox is an Associate Director of the Pew Internet & American Life Project and principal author of the Project’s survey reports on health. Read more about Susannah Fox here and more of her articles can be found here. […]

    Reply
  28. The Community Health Data Initiative: Now, With Mashups! | Reporting on Health says:
    March 21, 2011 at 2:00 pm

    […] of media attention. You can find coverage and analysis from Susannah Fox of the Pew Internet Center here, Craig Newmark of Craigslist here, Steve Downs of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation here, Alex […]

    Reply
  29. How can a community organization tap into the health dev craze? | e-Patients.net says:
    March 23, 2011 at 2:31 pm

    […] Making Health Data Sing (Even If It’s A Familiar Song) […]

    Reply
  30. Todd Park on unleashing the power of open data to improve health | Gov 2.0: The Power of Platforms says:
    March 25, 2011 at 10:10 am

    […] Making Health Data Sing (Even If It’s A Familiar Song) […]

    Reply

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