Blog Entries
 By Steven Randazzo On Tuesday, September 11, 2012 - 4:01pm
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Innovation Team is taking new steps to make it easier for people to connect and find information on our innovation activities. As an example, we have used Twitter to promote the first time public voting for selecting input on the HHSinnovates Program. Here are some of the ways we are connecting with you. HHS Innovation Team Update – This monthly newsletter highlights the major activities and opportunities from the HHS Innovation Team. Included in this feature are announcements of new programs, new challenge competition opportunities, data sets, and other exciting news. Subscribe here, and stay up-to-date on what’s going on. Read more » |
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By Steven Randazzo On Thursday, August 23, 2012 - 9:39am
Below is a guest post by Brian P. Keefe, Cancer Research Training Award Fellow, National Cancer Institute. Do you need a hint regarding the health behaviors, beliefs, and knowledge of the American public? The National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) collects data on how Americans use, interact with, and understand health information, and assesses health-related attitudes, knowledge, and behaviors. In particular, this national survey focuses on how adults aged 18 years and older use differing communication channels to obtain health information for themselves and loved ones. The newest HINTS dataset and supporting documents, released last week, are currently available for download on the HINTS website. Read more » |
 By Bryan Sivak On Wednesday, August 22, 2012 - 9:42am
Earlier this summer, the U.S. Chief Information Officer, Steven VanRoekel released the federal government’s new digital strategy which aims to shift the way government information is accessed and consumed. Instead of focusing on producing a final product, which has been common practice for years, the government will now be making content more accurate, available and secure. One major tool in the information technology tool box being used to achieve this goal is the use of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). An API is a set of tools for building software applications. But more importantly, an API makes information more accessible. This is important for two reasons. First, the use of APIs make it easier to replicate government information across more places than ever before. APIs enable automatic updates of information when content is syndicated on other websites, while reducing actual person hours currently spent manually updating content. Read more » |
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By Steven Randazzo On Monday, August 13, 2012 - 2:06pm
The next installment of HealthData.gov’s blog post series highlighting applications that have been developed leveraging U.S. Department of Health and Human Services data features Archimedes IndiGO. Archimedes IndiGO was featured on the main stage at this year’s Health Data Initiative Forum III: Health Datapalooza. IndiGO, a clinical decision support tool developed by Archimedes, Inc., is an innovative new application that relies on open government data, personal health data, and an individual’s choice to provide an overall health status. Read more » |
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By Steven Randazzo On Monday, August 13, 2012 - 11:52am
On August 9 – 10, 2012 the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) held its first ever Behavioral Health Data Users Conference and it was awesome! Over two days, SAMHSA brought data owners and users together in one place to better explore the treasure trove of behavioral health data being produced by SAMHSA. Unlike other conferences, the SAMHSA Behavioral Health Data Users Conference not only convened people to provide an overview of what type of data is available, but actually trained attendees on how to access data, create tables and run regressions! The two-day conference featured an agenda jam packed with something for everyone. The morning started out with U.S. Chief Technology Officer, Todd Park discussing the power of data and how it can be harnessed to address some of the United States most critical needs, specifically noting that by 2020 behavioral health conditions will surpass all physical diseases as a major cause of disability worldwide. Read more » |