Expert Voices: The Power of Data to Improve Americans' Health

Each year, people in the United States are diagnosed with millions of preventable illnesses and conditions with hundreds of thousands of these cases resulting in premature deaths. Underlying this tragic reality is the insufficient and ineffective use of existing health care data that could benefit the public’s health.

States are uniquely positioned to help change this by making better use of data they already have. And data from state Medicaid agencies and public health departments is a good place to start. Bringing together these large and complementary data sets can create a more complete picture of health needs and priorities within a state, and collaboration between these organizations can turn that data into action—helping states to find more efficient and effective ways to improve people’s health and well-being.

Some states have already seen measurably improved health outcomes as a result of data-driven partnerships and Pew’s state health solutions team is working to build on these successes­­—and expand the use of collaborations like these.

Pew’s efforts include creation of a policy framework that can help states build or improve sustainable, long-term, data-driven partnerships between their Medicaid and public health agencies. To inform the development of this resource, Pew has been convening and consulting with current and former Medicaid and public health officials—as well as experts from nonprofit organizations, federal agencies, health systems, and academia—to get their insights on how these data-driven partnerships have been, and could be, developed. As part of this process, these experts have also shared lessons learned from working within their own departments and across state agencies.

Hear from a few of those experts below: