Open data, information-sharing, data standards and interoperability may not be the answers to every question, but there’s no doubt that they are pivotal components in addressing many challenges confronting the health and human services field. And the latest – and most urgent example to buttress this point is the exploding opioid/heroin epidemic sweeping the country. […]
Category: Bridging Service Silos
Looking Back to See the Future More Clearly
As the first month of 2016 zooms by, Stewards of Change is embarking on what promises to be its busiest and most productive year ever – which leads me to think about how far our field has come during the decade since SOC came into being. In particular, I remember our first national symposium at […]
Elementary, Dear Watson, the Symposium is about Change . . . and the Future
While preparing for the Stewards of Change 10th Anniversary National Symposium – which begins next Monday at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore – SOCI President Daniel Stein met by phone a few days ago with IBM Global Business Consultant Joseph Fiorentino and Martin Duggan, who leads the IBM Curam Research Institute. Here are edited highlights […]
ArcGIS Open Data: An Invitation and an Opportunity
By Este GeraghtyChief Medical Officer and Health Solutions Director, Esri The California Open DataFest II is fast approaching (March 16 and 17), and it marks a time of celebration and of coming full circle for me. You see, as physician–scientist at UC Davis, I yearned for data to be more available to facilitate my research. […]
OPEN DATA: A Lot of Sparks, So Why No Wildfire Yet?
The concept of “Open Data” has excited and frustrated a lot of people over the years, because it’s one of those things that makes total sense on paper, and therefore “feels” like an idea that will quickly go viral and generate tremendous value. Yet it hasn’t yet, so its supporters are puzzled and reflexively think […]
Yes, We Can Share Information, Improve Outcomes AND Protect Privacy!
I’m going to start today with a confession: I am a true believer. Preaching and teaching the value of information-sharing and interoperability to improve health and human services (and thereby people’s lives) is not only my job; it is my passion. So I was honored when the National League of Cities recently asked me to […]
An Opportunity to Promote Progress in HHS – by Listening
It’s always a pleasure for me to spread the word about important initiatives in our world – and even more so when I have the privilege to be involved in one. That’s the case with an ambitious new effort announced yesterday by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, titled “Data for Health.” Its goal is to […]
New York State Confidentiality Toolkit Developed to Assist with Cross System Information Sharing
New York State continues in its efforts toward interoperability and toward using technology to improve services to its citizens, especially those most vulnerable and in need of public intervention to reach independence. The New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) – under the leadership of former Commissioner Gladys Carrion, former OCFS CIO Bill […]
Toward Seamless Information & Referral: A Polycentric Experiment
By Derek Coursen, Adjunct Faculty, NYU Wagner School of Public Service Multiple levels of government and a myriad of nonprofit organizations offer an ever-changing array of specialized services to people who need them. But who directs traffic through all that complexity?The work of connecting people to services is known as information and referral. It’s a […]