The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s openFDA initiative aims to “make it easier for web developers, researchers, and the public to access large, important public health datasets.”
HHS seeks entrepreneurs for year-long fellowships
Applications for the Department of Health & Human Services HHS Entrepreneurs program are now open to innovators interested in working for a year-long stint alongside federal government employees on “high-risk, high-reward projects.”
Obama’s IT ‘trauma team’ and recruiting Silicon Valley
Brill’s “Obama’s Trauma Team” features U.S. Chief Technology Officer Todd Park, Obama’s fix-it man Jeff Zients, presidential innovation fellows, venture capitalist John Doerr, members of Obama’s campaign tech team and some of Silicon Valley’s entrepreneurs.
The politics of physics (and healthcare.gov)
Since last October the U.S. media, in full orgasmic throng, has been barking madly over the fate of the Healthcare.gov rollout. There has been overwhelming and obdurate polarization around positions on issues that would, in other arenas, be viewed through the objective lens of what most agree are facts.
We the People petitioners want access to healthcare.gov source code
A new We the People petition opened Sunday calling for the federal government to make the healthcare.gov source code publicly available “so we may help fix any found issues.”
Data Challenge Spotlight: Visualizing Health Reform
Visualizing Health Reform is the go-to source for factual, easy-to-understand information on health care reform in Illinois.
HHS launches Healthcare.gov
The Department of Health & Human Services launched Healthcare.gov, an all-in-one healthcare information site related to the Affordable Care Act dedicated to helping citizens ‘take health care into your own hands.’
Features include Find Insurance Options, Get Prevention Tips, Compare Care Quality and Understand the Law.
HITECH Act and government access to private health records
When the Electronic Freedom of Information Act was passed into law, ordinary citizens were allowed access to previously secret government data. With the new Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (the HITECH Act) the government is now attempting to view and organize our country’s private health records. It’s quite a project.
GovRx: Prescription for immigrant healthcare
Regardless of nationality, people from all over the world are treated in American hospitals. You don’t have to be a U.S. citizen to purchase private health insurance in the U.S. nor do you have to be a citizen to pay to see a doctor. The U.S. has a private healthcare system that is open to everybody, who pays.
Gov 2.0 in 2009 video review from Salt Lake Valley Health Department
The Salt Lake Valley Health Department produced a A Year in Gov 2.0: Our Social Media Quest video highlighting its social media and communications activity over 2009, including efforts around H1N1 public outreach.
CDC’s social media efforts featured in Advertising Age video
Advertising Age video highlights CDC’s social media efforts with Twitter, e-Health cards and dealing with related culture and leadership issues.
Open innovation from a UK hospital bed
When talking this morning on Skype with my good friend Chris Quigley, from the UK-based company Delib, he informed me that he was in the hospital for a slipped disc in his back. The amazing thing is that while hospitalized, he created an open innovation platform for the hospital called Help Us Improve Kings.
This platform allows staff, patients and visitors the ability to submit, comment and rate ideas to improve Kings Hospital. It’s amazing how powerful open innovation is, and how one person can truly make a difference using technology as a tool.
Video: Salt Lake Valley Health Department shares H1N1 social media efforts
Great video of how the Salt Lake Valley Health Department uses social media tools like Twitter and Facebook to communicate H1N1 information to citizens and media.
Gov 2.0 Radio: David Hale: Health 2.0 and ‘Coopetition’
In conversation with David Hale about the Pillbox project and brainstorming the future of gov.
Social Media Flu Fighters
One of the aspects of Gov 2.0 that I think is making excellent progress is in the area of healthcare and social media. Not only are private healthcare organizations beginning to embrace this technology, but government agencies are also beginning to make use of these powerful tools.
Efforts to distribute accurate information about the dangers of swine flu and the importance of vaccination are hampered by the sheer complexity of the message. Social media tools are being utilized to assist in this effort. Using Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and blogs, the government is actively engaged in social media to harness the power of this platform to reach a new audience and provide real time information. Social media is a powerful new method of healthy communication.
50 must-follow #Health20 heroes on Twitter
Healthcare workers and advocates are bridging social media, technology tools and healthcare to work towards meaningful healthcare reform and the development of an Electronic Health Record and National Health Information Exchange. This list is by no means comprehensive so please add more. I would like to eventually categorize into groups, but you can get an idea by search under hashtags #healthcare, #hcsm, #hcmktg and #hcreform (please share other hashtags being used).
40 #Health20 heroes to follow on Twitter.
Gov 2.0 Radio: Health 2.0
Guests Andrew P. Wilson and of the Health and Human Services social media team and civil servant and Health 2.0 enthusiast Dan Deakin will talk about using Web 2.0 to educate and respond to health emergencies, as well as to collaborate and share knowledge.