It’s election season, so we all hear routinely from candidates across the political spectrum about what government doesn’t do, about how inefficient it is and about how it doesn’t really strive to serve people. I’m not going to take sides in that debate, but the optimist in me has to weigh in with this: What […]
Category: Public and Political Will
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 […]
Our 9th Annual Symposium: Reflections on the Possible
At the end of our three-day symposium at Johns Hopkins University earlier this month, I asked the attendees to describe their experience in just one word. Here’s a representative sampling of what we heard: “Exciting.” “Energizing.” “Thought-provoking” (is that one word?). “Insightful.” And my personal favorite: “Inspiring.” All of us at the Stewards of Change […]
Health Datapalooza: A Call to Improve Care Through Open Health Data
By Dwayne Spradlin, CEO, Health Data Consortium — Great strides have been made in the public availability and use of health data, but we still have a long way to go in our efforts to improve health care in the United States. At the center of the efforts of the Health Data Consortium is […]
The Latest Revolution
Throughout the developed world, and at all levels of government, the latest explosive innovation linked to government use of IT is the rush to make government data open. Particularly in larger cities in the U.S. and Europe, state and local governments are finding more and more datasets never heretofore made public and are publishing these new […]
Ruthlessly Strategic!
Two poignant words – ruthlessly strategic – echoed across the walls of the Glass Pavilion at Johns Hopkins University as Jessica Kahn delivered an impassioned challenge to participants during the closing panel of the 8th Annual Stewards of Change Symposium. Participants got it. They understand that now is the time to act – with […]
7th Annual SOC Symposium Discussion of Recommendations With Federal Partners
On October 9th a small group of attendees from the 7th Annual Stewards of Change Symposium discussed key findings and recommendations with federal leaders from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight and Food and Nutritional Services. Over the past three months many participants contributed to the review […]
Interoperability At The Tipping Point
Whatever you call it – a tipping point, a paradigm shift, an inflection point – we are on the verge of a fundamental shift in the way human services are designed, built and delivered across America. Of course it is not by chance, but rather the dividend of a tremendous investment of energy, devotion, creativity […]
The Fierce Urgency of NOW
In my 36-year career with the federal government, I have never seen a better time to reach our goals of achieving interoperability across the Health and Human Services Divide. From across the broad spectrum of stakeholders, organizations, key decision-makers and thought-leaders are all signing on. Like many of us, I have collected and treasured favorite […]