RWJF to embark on five-city tour to explore how data can improve health

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is hosting a series of “Learning What Works” events as part of its new Data for Health initiative to identify ways to harness data to improve health.

The initiative’s advisory committee—co-chaired by David Ross, ScD, director of the Public Health Informatics Institute, and Ivor Horn, MD, MPH, medical director of the Center for Diversity and Health Equity at Seattle Children’s Hospital—will host these events in Philadelphia, Phoenix, Des Moines, San Francisco and Charleston. From learnings gleaned at these sessions, the committee will issue a report and recommendations in early 2015.

“As we build a Culture of Health—a nation where everyone has the opportunity to live longer, healthier lives—it will be critical to ensure communities can effectively use and manage this information in ways that help people get healthy and stay healthy,” said RWJF President and CEO Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, MD, MBA, in a statement. “The Data for Health initiative will be a starting point for identifying what infrastructure is needed to turn this information into an effective tool for improving health nationwide.”

Advisors on the committee are:

James J. Augustine, MD, associate professor, Wright State University

David Blumenthal, MD, MPP, president and CEO, The Commonwealth Fund

Bechara Choucair, MD, commissioner, Chicago Department of Public Health

Larry A. Green, MD, professor of family medicine, University of Colorado Denver

Kirsten Lodal, CEO, LIFT

Karen S. Martin, RN, MSN, healthcare consultant

David McCallie Jr., MD, senior vice president for medical informatics, Cerner

Deven McGraw, JD, MPH, Partner, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP

Erin Moore, family partner, Cincinnati Children's Hospital

Gilberto Salinas, MPA, chief clinical officer, Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center