Major Changes on the Horizon for HHS Data
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Today, the Nashville Health Care Council hosted Bryan Sivak, chief technology officer and Entrepreneur in Residence, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), for a discussion on the HHS innovation agenda. Dwayne Spradlin, CEO, Health Data Consortium, provided opening remarks.
At the briefing, Sivak shared his thoughts on disrupting government culture to enable pathways of transparency and innovation to facilitate the usage of data for better health.
“Insights from big data offer innovative health care solutions by identifying inefficiencies within the system and by providing an easier way for patients to understand and make decisions about their own health care,” said Sivak.
“Big data will lead to a fundamental shift in the nation’s health care industry-the biggest shift since the creation of Medicare and Medicaid,” said Spradlin.
View speaker interview on YouTube and event photos on Flickr.
Photo credit: (c) 2014, Donn Jones.
“As a center of health care data, Nashville has a tremendous opportunity to lead the nation and set trends in the use of data to enhance care,” said Caroline Young, Council president.
Sivak discussed the Health Data Initiative at HHS, which aims to liberate data for more practical uses. The agency is increasing this effort through an Open Data Execution Plan.
Today’s program was presented by First Tennessee. Supporting sponsors were Healthways,Lipscomb University School of Computing and Informatics and Tata Consulting Services.
About Bryan Sivak
As chief technology officer for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Bryan Sivak is leading the department’s efforts to harness the power of data and technology and improve the health and welfare of the nation.
Previously, Sivak served as the chief innovation officer to Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, where he led Maryland’s efforts to embed concepts of innovation into the DNA of state government. He has distinguished himself in this role as someone who can work creatively across a large government organization to identify and implement the best opportunities for improving the way the government works.
Prior to his time with Governor O’Malley, Sivak served as chief technology officer for the District of Columbia, where he created a technology infrastructure that enhanced communication between the District’s residents and their government, and implemented organizational reforms that improved efficiency, program controls, and customer service. Sivak also worked in the private sector, co-founding InQuira, Inc., a multi-national software company, in 2002, and Electric Knowledge LLC, which provided one of the world’s first Natural Language Search engines available on the web, in 1998.
About the Nashville Health Care Council
The Nashville Health Care Council, founded in 1995 as an affiliate of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, is an association of health care industry leaders working together to further establish Nashville’s position as the nation’s health care industry capital. Worldwide, Nashville’s health care industry generates more than 400,000 jobs and $70 billion in annual revenue. The industry is Nashville’s largest and fastest growing employer. For more information on the Council, please visit www.healthcarecouncil.com.