Spreading the Word on the Impact of Interoperability and Open Data: Our Latest Symposium Focused Sharply on Improving Children’s Lives

Over the past decade, the steadily escalating use of open data has expanded knowledge, driven innovation, enhanced effectiveness and improved outcomes in a growing number of realms, particularly relating to health, healthcare and human services. Stewards of Change Institute, seeing the opportunity (and the need) to expand this work even further, recently held an event […]

Advancing Quickly at a Glacial Pace … and More Musings as Stewards’ 11th Annual Symposium Begins

The world in which Stewards of Change Institute operates – populated by concepts like information-sharing, interoperability, social determinants of health and, most recently, cognitive computing – is changing fast. I know that because I’ve watched the change happen, ever so slowly, for over a decade. Fast and slow simultaneously? Absolutely. The technology and much of […]

The Rising Opioid Abuse Epidemic

As the 11th annual Stewards of Change National Symposium is fast approaching, I have been pondering how states might be able to address one of the fastest growing and troubling outbreaks in this country: the rising opioid abuse epidemic.   Simply reflect on this statistic. In 2014, there were one and a half times more drug […]

Better sharing of data among UK government agencies seeks to protect vulnerable citizens

In the United Kingdom, multi-agency collaboration (MAC) – the sharing of information and resources between agencies – promises to ensure that a clearer picture is drawn to help at-risk citizens. Currently, no single person or agency has quick, easy access to information across agencies. While they and other interested parties – police officers, social workers, […]

The Quest for the HHS “Golden Record”

The Affordable Care Act has added some 20 million to the list of the now insured and spurred a drive for innovation to finally crack the code on bureaucratic delivery inefficiencies, quality and cost. Annual healthcare spending was $3.8 trillion and human services spending was $1.02 trillion in 2014, yet the U.S. healthcare system is […]

Announcing the Stewards of Change Institute: A New Not For Profit Organization

As the Chairman of Stewards of Change Institute, I am proud to announce that the Institute has received official recognition by the IRS as a tax exempt 501(c)(3) public charity.  SOC Institute was organized exclusively to research, support, and educate the general public, government agencies, judiciary, private businesses, foundations, and not for profits about sharing and […]