The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has released a new data strategy that aims to advance the agency’s management and use of data to improve health outcomes for all Americans.
The strategy – issued on Dec. 14 – is focused on the near-to-medium term, which HHS said is about five years. However, HHS plans to periodically review the data strategy’s content to meet emerging needs.
“This Data Strategy is a pivotal step forward in our commitment to utilizing data as a strategic asset to drive innovation and improve outcomes in health and human services,” HHS Deputy Secretary Andrea Palm said in a press release. “By harnessing the power of information and leveraging recent technological advancements, we’re better equipped to meet the evolving needs of the people and communities we serve.”
HHS said the strategy is based on the research and recommendations of a cross-HHS task force, which Palm convened in the fall of 2022. The task force – composed of data experts – assessed the current state of HHS’s data capabilities and developed a list of five critical focus areas to target investments.
Those five data priorities include: cultivating data talent, fostering data sharing, integrating administrative data into program operations, enabling whole-person care delivery by connecting human services data, and responsibly leveraging artificial intelligence.
The strategy also identifies two “anchor use cases” where cross-department data action can help to deliver on critical mission objectives. These use cases are Cancer Moonshot – President Biden’s initiative to end cancer as we know it – and Preparedness and Incident Response.
“Synthesizing the vast amount of data across the full spectrum of cancer research and clinical care will be our best bet for reducing the cancer death rate by 50 percent within 25 years,” said Dr. Monica Bertagnolli, the director of the National Institutes of Health. “The Data Strategy will focus HHS activities on developing and implementing clinical data standards and expanding secure access to the data with the goal of unlocking the next generation of cancer prevention and treatment.”
Additionally, the strategy includes an expansion of the role of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC). The office will now help coordinate human services interoperability in addition to its current role of enabling interoperability in the U.S. healthcare system.
“Better integration of health care delivery and human services is critical to strengthening ‘whole-person’ care, advancing health equity, and improving customer experience,” said Micky Tripathi, the national coordinator for health information technology. “ONC has focused for many years on increasing patient-centered health care interoperability, and we are eager to support the HHS Data Strategy’s vision for human services interoperability.”
HHS’s previous data strategy was drafted in 2018, following the passage of the Evidence Act. However, HHS said a new strategy was necessary following the COVID-19 pandemic and the rapid developments of artificial intelligence technology.
HHS said the updated data strategy builds on the foundation laid by previous strategies while taking on “a broader focus and bolder vision.”
