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Opening government health data to the public: benefits, challenges, and lessons learned from early innovators.

ABSTRACT: Objective:Government agencies are rapidly developing web portals to proactively publish "open" data that are searchable, available in nonproprietary formats, and with unlimited use and distribution rights. In this dynamic environment, we aimed to understand the experiences of 2 early leaders in open health data, the US Department of Health and Human Services and the New York State Department of Health. Materials and Methods:Semistructured interviews with 40 practitioners and policymakers elicited value propositions, capabilities required for successful open data programs, and strategies for improving impact and sustainability. Transcripts were analyzed using a grounded theory approach to identify common perspectives and divergent viewpoints. Results:Respondents were optimistic about the value of open data, reporting numerous opportunities to advance the triple aim of lower costs, improved health care quality, and better population health. Benefits to agencies include enhanced data quality and more efficient operations. External benefits include improved health literacy, data-driven changes in health care delivery, consumer engagement, and community empowerment. Key challenges are resources, cultural resistance, navigating legal and regulatory issues, and data quality. Discussion:The open data movement will likely continue, but success requires sustained leadership, resources, organizational cultural change, promotion of data use, and governance. Jurisdictions that are initiating open data programs can incorporate these lessons from early innovators. Conclusions:The open data movement has a bright future but unknown long-term impact. To maintain momentum, important directions for the field include reconsidering legal guidance on protecting health data in the open data era and quantifying the return on investment.

SUBMITTER: Martin EG

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7651893 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Opening government health data to the public: benefits, challenges, and lessons learned from early innovators.

Martin Erika G EG Begany Grace M GM

Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA 20170301 2

<h4>Objective</h4>Government agencies are rapidly developing web portals to proactively publish "open" data that are searchable, available in nonproprietary formats, and with unlimited use and distribution rights. In this dynamic environment, we aimed to understand the experiences of 2 early leaders in open health data, the US Department of Health and Human Services and the New York State Department of Health.<h4>Materials and methods</h4>Semistructured interviews with 40 practitioners and polic ...[more]

PMID: 27497796

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Project description:BACKGROUND:Historical changes in the nature of sedentary activities have been observed in other countries, but it is not clear if similar trends exist in Canada. It is also unclear how changes in the measurement of sedentary behaviour affects national estimates. Our objective is to document all sources and measures of sedentary behaviour from Canadian, nationally representative surveys, and report on selected estimates of time spent in sedentary activities. Lessons learned can benefit the wider international surveillance community. METHODS:We describe and document all data sources of sedentary behaviour at the national level in Canada, and report on selected prevalence data from repeated cross-sectional surveys. We summarize amounts of total device-assessed sedentary time and self-reported sedentary activities (e.g., passive travel, leisure television, computer, video games, screen, and reading) by age group over time. RESULTS:Nineteen national surveys were identified. Changes in questions and/or response categories precluded direct assessment of trends over time for some measures; however, certain trends were observed. Accelerometer-measured sedentary time, leisure reading (among those <?50?years) and television/video viewing in younger age groups have remained relatively stable (with a possible slight decline in television/video viewing). Time spent in passive travel and leisure computer and electronic device use appears to have increased. Television and video viewing appears to have increased in older adults while their leisure reading appears to have fallen. CONCLUSIONS:Changes in measurement of sedentary behaviour can affect estimates and reduce comparability over time. Total leisure screen use appears to have increased over time, reflecting the ways in which Canadians spend their free time and technological advances. The main public health message is the need for continued efforts to reduce leisure screen use, especially among youth and older adults.

Dataset Information

Opening government health data to the public: benefits, challenges, and lessons learned from early innovators.

Publications

Opening government health data to the public: benefits, challenges, and lessons learned from early innovators.

Similar Datasets

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