Data Sharing And Analytics: Changing HHS For The Better

In many states, IT planners in health and human services have sought ways to bridge the divide, gathering data from disparate sources across government to inform the public, drive better policy and improve social outcomes.

The Missouri state Medicaid agency MO HealthNet covers some 880,000 people. How sick are they? How much does it cost to treat them? Until recently, no one really knew. As in many states, Missouri health information has resided in silos. Emergency room visits didn’t get reported to home-care providers; primary-care doctors didn’t necessarily share word of chronic conditions with other practitioners.

All that is changing, as the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services has begun a data-sharing project with the state’s departments of Mental Health and Social Services. Under the new Health Homes initiative, “we are finding data wherever we can find it and then figuring out how to plug it in,” said Joe Parks, director of MO HealthNet.

Missouri is not alone. In many states, IT planners in health and human services have sought ways to bridge the divide, gathering data from disparate sources across government in order to forge cohesive pictures that can inform the public, drive better policy and ultimately improve social outcomes...