Health and medical progress depends on the ability to share and use data on a wide range of issues, ranging from food safety and drug effectiveness to patient treatment outcomes and public health indicators. While the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) manages a huge amount of data, there are many obstacles to sharing and using this data in ways that allow its full value to be realized.

The Office of the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Center for Open Data Enterprise (CODE) are cohosting a series of three roundtables for experts inside and outside of government to find ways to improve how health data is shared and utilized for the public good.

This roundtable series will convene a broad range of stakeholders across multiple levels of government, the private sector, and the research community to improve health data sharing for the public good. Each roundtable is designed to help build a community that can advance health data sharing in different ways. Participation will be by invitation only to ensure the most productive mix of perspectives and expertise. The roundtables will each feature keynotes, lightning talks, and breakout sessions to identify challenges and opportunities and make specific recommendations. The informational and instructional materials developed as part of each roundtable, including briefing papers and summary reports, will be used for broader outreach and stakeholder engagement through PCORI’s networks.

This project will be focused on three main objectives:

• Find more effective ways to share health data within the federal government, with state and local governments, and with the public
• Recommend priorities for sharing high-value government data for health research and applications
• Provide key stakeholders and networks with information and guidance on health data sharing