National

U.S. Health Department Unveils Data Strategy to Improve Health Outcomes and Advance Cancer Research

- by Maryann Pugh
Department of Health and Human Services

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced its new Data Strategy aimed at enhancing the department’s management and utilization of data to improve health outcomes. The strategy is rooted in the vision of making data available, accessible, timely, equitable, meaningfully usable, and protected for effective use by HHS, its partners, and the public.

This initiative aligns with President Biden’s Unity Agenda, promoting wider access to data to accelerate cancer research, enhance patient outcomes, and support the ambitious Biden Cancer Moonshot goal of halving the cancer death rate within the next 25 years.

Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services, Andrea Palm, emphasized the significance of this strategic move, stating, “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.”

The HHS Data Strategy outlines five priorities to enhance the department’s data infrastructure and capabilities:

  1. Cultivate data talent to meet HHS’s current and future data workforce needs.
  2. Foster data sharing across the Department and with external partners to drive progress and improve care.
  3. Integrate administrative data into program operations and decision-making processes at all levels.
  4. Enable whole-person care delivery by connecting human services data for a comprehensive view of wellness and needs.
  5. Responsibly leverage artificial intelligence to improve the quality, efficiency, access, and outcomes in health and human services.

One key aspect of this strategy is the expanded role of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC). The ONC will now coordinate human services interoperability, in addition to its existing role in enabling interoperability in the U.S. healthcare system.

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National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, Micky Tripathi, Ph.D., noted the importance of integrating healthcare delivery and human services to bolster “whole-person” care, advance health equity, and improve customer experience.

Dr. Monica Bertagnolli, Director of the National Institutes of Health, highlighted the strategy’s potential for cancer research. She stated, “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% within 25 years.”

For more information on the HHS Data Strategy, visit https://cdo.hhs.gov/s/hhs-data-strategy.

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